The role of families and schools in prevention of drugs used by adolescent students

Abstract

This is a qualitative-exploratory research study carried out with 23 parents of 5th to 8th graders of a public school in Curitiba, Parana State/Brazil, in 2007. The purpose was to apprehend the reasons parents attribute to the initiation of drug use by adolescents and describe how they perceive the family and the school role in drug use prevention. Data were collected by means of a structured interview and organized in thematic categories. For parents, adolescents’ involvement with drug abuse is related to many individual, familiar and social factors. Family and school are fundamental in drug use prevention: family in order to set limits, to provide love, respect, to pass on values, and school because it is a privileged setting for health promotion focusing on prevention and fight against drug abuse. It is concluded that it is necessary to reflect upon reality and life conditions which value experiences and enable a collective and solidary construction to cope with this social problem.