Francais                                 About this Project                          Project Contacts                              Project Tools

Drugs and Teen Use     What Schools Can Do      What Parents Can Do      What Parent Volunteers Can Do     What Parent Leaders Can Do

Organize a Parent Meeting at your school

Organize a school-community Workshop

Bring awareness campaign materials into your school

Organize a Dry Grad

Start an After-School Activity that Attracts At-Risk Kids 

Get a Peer Helper Program Started

Get a Mentoring Program Started

Improve your school’s policies and practices on school climate and discipline

What Parent Volunteers Can Do to Prevent Substance Abuse

Parents can become involved in prevention through their school in a number of ways. This page begins a series of pages that point to tools and programs that can be used in schools to prevent substance abuse among students.

Some Tips to Consider Before Starting:

Parent volunteers should not try to start something in their school without speaking to others in order to gain their support or involvement. We suggest that you

1. Identify a couple of other parents and ask them to work with you. (Ask them to get involved in a time-limited way such as organizing a dry Grad or helping to get a program started. People are sometimes reluctant to make a long-term commitment.)
2. Approach the school principal to seek support. (Be careful to show the positive aspects of the activity, and not to imply that your school “has a drug problem”.)
3. Seek support from the school counsellor, local police school officer and the local addictions agency staff. (Find out what they are doing so that you can build on their efforts or get them involved in your idea.)
4. Seek out other local parent and community agencies that would be interested. (These would include the local youth services agency, sports clubs, MADD affiliates, etc. Again, find out if they are planning any activities and coordinate with them.)

Check out the links in the left-hand margin of this page for some great ideas. Be realistic, but be confident that your efforts will make a difference for kids.

Ten Strategies for involving Parents in Health Promotion (Canadian Association for School Health)

Barriers to Parent Involvement in Health Promotion
(Canadian Association for School Health)

 Home