C.O.S.T.—An Approach to Kids

Abstract

Assuming routine fact-giving within a school health program, the author has addressed, in an interactive way, some 300,000 students from Grade 6 level up. The appeal is basically to the students' ability to use logic and assess the various “costs” of experimentation and use of drugs. The author's approach is based on a conception of students as intelligent but unsophisticated and is designed to defeat the urgings of the pro-drug element in the school by offering new ways of looking at the drug question and, in part, gently ridiculing the appeal of the pusher. Follow-up enquiries are quoted to assess the effectiveness of such presentations and the use of existing community resources is outlined.