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A study on the "Engagement of Parents in Anti-drug Work", launched by the Narcotics Division (ND) of the Security Bureau, reveals that to enhance parents' participation in programmes to prevent youth drug abuse, the content of the programmes should be rich and should cater for the needs of different parents. The anti-drug message should be clear so that parents can immediately benefit from participating in the activities. The format of the programmes should be two-way and interactive. The venue should be easy to access. Registration should be simple and incentives should be provided for attendance.
Commissioned by the ND, the study was conducted jointly by the Department of Social Work and Social Administration of the University of Hong Kong and the Community Services Division of Tung Wah Group of Hospitals. It aims at developing an evidence-based parent education programme to raise parents' awareness of the benefits of joining prevention of youth drug abuse programmes.
The study consists of three phases targeting three types of parents: general parents, parents of at-risk youth and parents with a drug-taking history.
In Phase I of the study, the research team collected some 5,600 questionnaires from parents of primary and secondary school students. The research team then conducted face-to-face interviews with 100 parents with a drug-taking history to seek their views on preventive education programmes for youth and anti-drug knowledge they most urgently needed.
In Phase II, the research team invited professionals who had been involved in anti-drug publicity work or treatment and rehabilitation services to discuss and share their experience in focus groups. The purpose was to identify the essential elements in promoting the participation of parents in drug prevention programmes.
In Phase III, the research team developed drug prevention education programmes with special features for the three target groups based on the results obtained in the previous phases. The team then took a scientific approach to evaluate the effectiveness of the programmes. Results of the evaluation indicate that the programmes have been effective in assisting parents to prevent their children from taking drugs.
The study recommends that parents should be treated as key stakeholders in preventive work against youth drug abuse, and family members should similarly be engaged in preventive work. Anti-drug parental education programmes should be held regularly and publicity work should be extensive and multi-faceted. Furthermore, parenting programmes targeting parents with a drug-taking history, and early intervention work to tackle young drug abusers, should both be strengthened. The study also recommends that the programmes for parents should address the demands of different types of parents and take the form of general parenting education to avoid possible stigmatisation.
The Commissioner for Narcotics, Ms Sally Wong, welcomed the recommendations of the study. She said, "Anti-drug preventive education should start with the family. I fully agree with the recommendation that we should strengthen support for parental education. The Task Force on Youth Drug Abuse led by the Secretary for Justice, Mr Wong Yan Lung, SC, has already mapped out a series of short to medium term measures, including organising programmes to equip parents with anti-drug knowledge and skills to identify youth at risk and handle drug abuse cases.
"On May 21, the Beat Drugs Fund of the ND launched a special funding exercise to sponsor the production of a 'Resource Kit for Parents'. The resource kit, expected to be released at the end of this year, will help parental education groups, Parents-Teachers Associations and other concerned parties to organise drug prevention programmes for parents," Ms Wong added.
The public may visit the ND's website at www.nd.gov.hk/research_reports.htm for details of the study.
Ends/Thursday, August 21, 2008
Issued at HKT 18:28
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