***************************************************
More than 100 parents attended the opening ceremony of an anti-drug programme entitled Star Parents Programme today (September 26). They pledged to be caring parents, who endeavour to foster a good parent-child relationship, and to stand by their children if they encounter any drug temptation.
The Star Parents Programme, jointly organised by the Narcotics Division of the Security Bureau, the Action Committee Against Narcotics (ACAN) and Radio 5 of Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK-5), aims to raise parents' awareness of the youth drug abuse issue and to enhance their skills in handling the drug problem.
Ten parents were selected as anti-drug ambassadors of the programme through open recruitment earlier. They will participate in various activities of the programme in the coming months to learn about the harm of drug abuse and acquire skills to help their children to stay away from drug temptation. Towards the end of the programme, the parent ambassadors will share their knowledge and experience with the public and other parents in their peer groups.
Speaking at the opening ceremony today, the ACAN Chairman, Professor Daniel Shek, said that, with drug abuse becoming more hidden, early identification of those with drug problems and intervention to provide them with suitable assistance are of paramount importance. Parents play an important role since they are best placed to prevent their children from abusing drugs, to observe whether they have problems and to encourage them to seek help early if they have drug problems. Professor Shek noted that a good parent-child relationship and a caring family environment provide important defence against young people falling prey to drugs or other behavioural problems. He encouraged parents to enhance their communication skills with children and equip themselves with knowledge about the drug problem.
The Chairman of the ACAN Sub-committee on Treatment and Rehabilitation, Dr Ben Cheung; the Chairman of the ACAN Sub-committee on Preventive Education and Publicity, Dr Tik Chi-yuen; and the Commissioner for Narcotics, Mrs Erika Hui, talked about the latest situation of youth drug abuse at the ceremony today.
Mrs Hui mentioned that there has been some misguided belief in the community that cannabis abuse is not illegal and is not addictive. She pointed out that cannabis abuse is a criminal offence in Hong Kong, as is the case with the abuse of other dangerous drugs. Mrs Hui reminded youngsters that they should never try to take cannabis and breach the law.
The organisers have invited three experts, psychiatrist Dr Sylvia Chen, research and training consultant on emotional quotient Dr Charles Yu and the Principal of Christian Zheng Sheng College, Dr Alman Chan, as the star coaches of the programme. Apart from attending the ceremony today, they will conduct workshops with participants on the importance of family health, ways to strengthen parent-child relationships and effective parenting skills.
The Principal Lecturer of the Faculty of Law of the University of Hong Kong, Mr Eric Cheung, and artiste Cindy Au also attended the event to show their support and shared with the participants their parenting skills.
The Hong Kong Parents Choir gave a singing performance at the ceremony. Rehabilitees from St Stephen's Society staged a street dance performance and shared their experience of quitting drugs.
To commence the anti-drug programme, guests and participants, after the opening ceremony, proceeded to the Hong Kong Jockey Club Drug InfoCentre to visit a thematic exhibition on anti-drug work and efforts in combating drug trafficking in Hong Kong.
A series of activities targeting parents will be launched after today's opening ceremony. These include three workshops to be held on October 18 and December 20, 2014, and March 21, 2015, at the Hong Kong Jockey Club Drug InfoCentre. Twelve episodes of radio programmes will be produced and broadcast from October 2014 to May 2015 in the RTHK-5 radio programme "Smile Family". Professionals will be invited to give interviews on different topics. Highlights of the opening ceremony, workshops and the closing ceremony will also be broadcast in the programme.
For details of the programme, please visit www.rthk.hk/smilefamily.
Ends/Friday, September 26, 2014
Issued at HKT 19:04
NNNN
