Teaching Elementary School Health Education/Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs/Drug Misuse

There are a few things that students need to know when it comes to drugs, the use, misuse, and abuse of them. The first thing they should understand is what a drug is. A drug is a substance that changes the way the body and the mind function. Students should also know the difference between illegal, prescription, and over the counter(OTC) drugs. The responsible way to use drugs is using legal drugs correctly or as they were meant to be used. Drug misuse is the wrong way to use prescription or OTC drugs. Drug abuse is when someone intentionally uses a drug without a medical reason, using illegal drugs, or using it for a reason other than what it is meant for.

The next thing a teacher can educate students about is how drugs can enter the body. These include by mouth, by injection, by inhalation, by absorption, and by implantation. While discussing the ways drugs enter the body, you can also discuss types of drugs that fit into these categories and how the affect the body and the brain. Here are a list of the different types of drugs that we can educate our students about:

• 1. Stimulants
  2. Sedative-Hypnotics
  3. Narcotics
  4. Hallucinogens
  5. Marijuana
  6. Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids
  7. Inhalants