Let’s Not Be Robotic About Drug Education

‘Just say NO’ may be better than nothing as a slogan but, boy, does it leave a lot to be desired.

The thing is about just saying no is you don’t know why you are saying no, and when you can’t think with a subject and you are just blindly following then it is all too be easy to be persuaded otherwise.

All someone has to say is ‘Why say no?’ and you have caught the kid out.

This kind of strategy is robotic and doesn’t help.

Think back to a time you needed to hold your ground on something. If you managed to it was probably because you had data about your point, maybe sources, maybe proof, or at least good solid reasoning. With that as back up, you felt confident to assert your point and stick with it despite opposition.

So how about a time you thought something and then someone changed your mind? You probably didn’t have those things. It was just something you had been told or heard, you weren’t really personally sure on why it was true or important so when the other person gave some data, it was all too easy to be swayed.

This is all true for drugs too. Give a kid hard facts, and true data and let them think about why they should maybe say no, why it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to do drugs and you’ve given them tools to stick up for themselves when people offer it or tell them to try it.

Just tell them ‘say no,’ and just like our other example, probably it won’t take more than a few choice words and points to make them think…’hmmm well, why not?’

So let’s educate for real, let’s let our children think and let’s move away from robotic ideas and maybe your kids will surprise you in the choices that they make!