what we've done - parent's report

Lewisham Education and Community Services established the Community Drug Education Project to run for a period of four years commencing April of 1997.

The Project strategically prioritised the following target groups -

• The local authority as parent - i.e. children within the care system
• Young people excluded or at danger of exclusion from school
• Young people who access youth provision
• Parents.

At the time of commissioning this report, the Project was undertaking action with the first three groups. A parents needs assessment exercise was been commissioned before work is commenced with this group. This summary identifies the key findings and recommendations contained within a fuller document that constitutes the report of that needs assessment.

The task was to undertake a needs assessment exercise with regard to parents in Lewisham. And the objectives were :

• To ascertain the extent and nature of concerns within a representative sample of Lewisham parents around drug issues and their children.
• To identify the preferred format(s) for the delivery of drug education to parents.
• To establish initial links with parents and institutions on which the Project can build for delivery.

The methodology used for the exercise was a triangulation approach, which is a recognised method of research that provides the collection of available data across three methods to ensure quality and consistency. The methods used to inform this approach were:

• Focus groups with parents.
• One-to-one interviews with parents and professionals working in education.
• Workshop with drug educators.

Fifty parents took part in the exercise by using the first two methods, and thirteen professionals working in the field of education took part using methods two and three.

Recurring themes from the oral testimonies of parents

The drugs mentioned most frequently by parents in descending order were: Cigarettes; Cannabis; Ecstasy; Alcohol; Heroin; Cocaine; Solvents.

Although not conclusive, many parents thought that their child would try cannabis but expressed greater concern of the six other drugs. A small number said that cannabis should be legalised. Parents felt that their primary-school children were anti-cigarettes but most suspected their children would eventually experiment with cigarettes, mainly because of peer pressure. Several parents with children in primary school believed their child would not try drugs because they were aware of the risks.

The majority of parents who said they had never taken drugs wanted to know the signs, symptoms, and effects of drug use. They expressed concern that they had little if any knowledge of street drugs. They were concerned that they would not know what signs to look for. Parents' anxieties, and therefore perceived knowledge, about drug use included: once was enough for their child to become addicted; one E was enough to kill a child; cannabis leads to harder drugs.

Three parents with children in primary school asked when they should begin talking to their child about drugs, with one of these saying she would not know what to say.

Of the seven parents who said they had previously used drugs or currently use drugs, four felt they could support their children if they experimented with soft drugs but would want advice and support from a drug agency if their child used drugs such as Ecstasy, Heroin or Cocaine. Members of one focus group said that the parents in the estate where they lived would not tolerate heroin dealing. Some parents felt they could cope with their children trying drugs that they have used but would feel out of their depth with drugs that they did not have experience of themselves.

Three of the parents who smoked cigarettes acknowledged that tobacco was a drug. Two parents said prescription drugs and over-the-counter drugs were as much a concern as illicit drugs. Most parents expressed a lack of knowledge about the drugs available to their children.

One parent was angry about television programmes that feature drug use before the evening time threshold but the majority utilised these occurrences as a means to talk to their children about drugs. However, the message to children was mainly that drugs are dangerous, stay away from them. Approximately twelve parents said either ‘come talk to me if you experiment’, or ‘I hope my children would come to me’.

Ethnicity presented distinct themes regarding schools as the best forum to reach parents within the three groups interviewed:

the Vietnamese community groups would like to take part in parent events but feel unable to take part because of the language barrier
in addition to the language barrier, the Somali community group felt they had a tenuous relationship with the schools, that their children were stereotyped as troublesome.
one Black British woman identified racism and its multifarious affects on Black youth e.g. police harassment, unemployment, and low societal expectations of Black youths as factors contributing to low self esteem and a "ghetto mentality" leading to drug misuse and crime. She considered drug use to be a symptom of wider social issues.

Interpretation of findings

Drugs ranked 4th out of 14 answers given by parents to the question, what are the most serious problems facing families with children? It would have ranked 3rd following safety, and the influence of others, except for the overwhelming number of people from the Vietnamese and Somali communities who considered communication to be the primary problem.

Parents are concerned about drugs generally with an overwhelming worry that drugs are ubiquitous. They admitted to a limited knowledge of different drugs. The majority of parents did not know what drugs are available on 'the street', the effects of these drugs, or how to identify the signs of possible drug use. One parent commented that children know more than we do, but they may have misinformation. 1 did not challenge the parents who said cannabis should be legalised to ask if they meant decriminalised. This indicates that they may not be clear about the legalities of drugs. General lack of knowledge and worry may confound their role in educating their children about drugs.

Parents were worried that if their children did try drugs that they would become addicted as expressed in the comment of one parent, I’m concerned that my child may try drugs once and will become addicted. Other parents expressed concern of the potentially fatal effect of ecstasy.

Parents were overwhelmingly anti-drugs. The dominant message to children was that ‘drugs are dangerous, stay away from them’. Although parents had divided feelings about whether or not their children would take drugs, factors were identified that might prevent children from going to their parents to discuss their drug use. The following quote expresses a powerful example: Children are killing themselves, they cannot tell their parents because they are scared because it is not accepted in their culture, forbidden by religion.

One parent expressed very concisely a possible outcome of a strong anti-drug stance taken with children, "If parent says drugs are bad for you, if they then try drugs and have a bad experience they won't come to the parent for help. "

A minority of parents hoped an ongoing dialogue with children about the risks of drugs would act as a preventative measure. One woman talked of open channels of communication, Most kids do try, children need to be able to tell parents they've taken something, to be able to go through it together.

The majority of parents felt they needed support to talk about drugs to their children but mainly because they felt they had a lack of knowledge about drugs. Given many parents felt they had good communication with their children, 1 interpret this to mean that if they had the knowledge, they have existing good lines of communication with their children to make use of the information. Parents seemed to feel they needed to know the 'ins and outs' of drugs in order to approach the subject with their children.

The two most popular choices for drug education were drugs helplines, or drugs education agency. The main service they would want from these services is information about drugs, e.g. effects and signs of drug use. A minority wanted to know what drugs are around in their area and how to approach the subject with their children. The third option was the GP as a referral agent.

Areas for further consideration

Only five men took part in the parent interviews, 10% of the total number interviewed. Jenny Dee of ‘Caught In The Act’ Theatre Company spoke of her experience of this in school events. In every venue there were more women than men. Various factors can be taken into consideration to understand why, e.g. time of day, venues, but I have not drawn conclusions. The Project needs to decide if you want to access men, how do you do so?

The role of women in Vietnamese and Somali communities, as opposed to men, needs to be understood before targeting parent groups. Vietnamese women take a dominant role in mixed groups, and there are a large number of female single parents in the Somali community indicating consideration of what further resources need to be in place.

Drug education at primary school level in the format of curriculum, theatre, parent groups is viewed as positive by both parents and professional educators. At secondary level; however, it is not working. Several professionals during the course of this exercise expressed the following view about schools' unwillingness to become involved in drug education- schools addressing drugs suggested to them that there was a problem with drugs at the school. Kate Holdom of the Big Fish Company has pointed out that she has found parents sometimes assume that the sessions have been organised because the teachers think the parents are using drugs.

Opposite views were expressed about parent's attendance at school events. One view is that a well-planned event, e.g. advertised and followed up, crèche available, will draw parents. The other view is that it makes no difference, other factors need to be taken into consideration, including parent's relationship with the school, parents’ own school experience, and the implication on the part of parents that school may perceive their parenting skills as not adequate

I conclude from this that reasons for parents' non-attendance at events targeted at them is inconclusive and currently a topic of debate. Other methods need to be identified rather than relying on schools as the only means of education for parents.

In conclusion to this section, I previously mentioned that a strength of this exercise was not only parent's willingness to talk but also the length of time they were prepared to give me. Does this suggest that they don't get the opportunity very often?

Recommendations

These recommendations are based on my interpretation of the findings from this exercise. They are given for consideration as a way forward for the Project.

Find other methods to reach parents other than secondary schools

• Continue to support school initiatives, and network to be aware of school events and where appropriate have a presence.
  

Target adults not 'parents'

• Have less focus on the label 'parent' and consider a holistic drug education approach that would target adults with or without children.
• Consider using methods suggested by parents in this exercise: Approach community centres to organise 'talking about drugs evenings': 'Everything you always wanted to know about drugs but were afraid to ask'. Feature someone, who has come out the other end for candid discussions, Be there for factual input and to promote the Project.
  

Take advantage of the good will and need of minority communities in Lewisham

• Make links with Lewisham Equalities Unit
• Deptford Vietnamese Community would like drug education for parent groups
  Lewisham Somali Community Organisation would like support in managing the use of CAT that is a great worry within the community
• Consider a pan-London approach to CAT use; including a part-funded post within the Somali community
• Re-look at how you resource these communities.

Support specialist theatre in health education as a way of reaching parents

• Discuss your role in summer holiday street theatre, Consider financial backing for theatre companies.

Target GPs' surgeries

• GP's ranked 3rd highest (26%) as a contact point for drug education
• A regular magazine covering the type of information parents have requested e.g. what drugs are on the streets, the effects of drugs, and the signs in GP's surgeries. Include ways of approaching the subject with children
• Consider outreach at surgeries.
• Link with Community Education
• Discuss proposed developments of parents’ groups in their homes throughout Lewisham
• Consider a pilot programme for this project (although the method may be costly)
• Liase with Community Education for speakers at home groups.
  

Continue to take part in the dialogue about an integrated approach to drug education

Consider resource implications for a quarterly magazine, or newsletter, to be disseminated throughout Lewisham

• Include factual information on drugs, including what is on the street and where (if possible).
• Feature articles on talking to young people about drugs, drugs and the law, seeking outside help, etc.