In Kerala, peer educators in schools to help fight against drugs
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The peer schooling coaching programme is carried out by the Social Justice Department in collaboration with the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bengaluru
A scholar of a distinguished increased secondary college in Ernakulam in Kerala just lately completed 5 “very useful” classes on peer schooling coaching as a part of a National Action Plan for Drug Demand Reduction.
The one-hour lengthy on-line classes, he says, aided his understanding of the deleterious results of drug abuse on the thoughts and the physique. More importantly, he learnt how to look out for indicators of drug abuse amongst fellow college students, hear to them and inspire them to search help. Rather than expose their secret, the try is to help them get assist, says the peer educator volunteer.
The peer schooling coaching programme is being carried out in Kerala by the Social Justice Department in collaboration with the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, in the wake of enhance in drug abuse, significantly amongst adolescents.
The programme is being piloted in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Idukki, Ernakulam, Malappuram and Kozhikode districts. A complete of 600 college students are educated in 12 batches of fifty college students every. The classes are led by psychological well being professionals. With deal with drug abuse prevention fairly than rehabilitation, the programme’s goal is to scale back the demand for and use of drugs in college settings.
Bino Thomas, assistant professor at NIMHANS, says standard methods similar to impressing on youngsters the affect of drug abuse have had restricted success. There is a necessity to undertake different strategies similar to peer schooling, an internationally recognised strategy, to scale back college students’ drug use charges.
Skill-based programme
After consultations with college students who had stopped utilizing drugs, college counsellors and academics, it was felt that apart from sensitisation and consciousness era, a skill-based coaching programme that empowers a scholar to determine different college students who use drugs, those that are susceptible to drug abuse and even silent customers by carefully observing them for numerous indicators, was wanted.
The scholar, or fairly the peer educator, will then inspire the drug customers to kick the behavior and search help. A pleasant strategy is the important thing, even when the drug customers refuse to heed counsel or settle for that they really want help, he identified.
“The peer educators are not counsellors, they are facilitators who will observe and identify drug users, empathise and provide support and persuade them to seek help from school counsellors or the police or the Excise department,” says Mr. Thomas.
Personal security
They are additionally educated in private security in order that they don’t fall into any potential traps. Besides searching for indicators of drug abuse, peer educators are taught to be looking out for behavioural adjustments in college students, improvement points, studying disabilities and so forth in order to present them appropriate help, he says.
The programme has been designed maintaining in thoughts the restrictions posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Though alternatives could also be restricted, if the peer educator volunteers get to learn about a classmate or good friend who’s utilizing drugs or hear about it from their mother and father or neighbours, they will intervene.
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