Education about drugs: a proposal oriented by damage reduction

Abstract

In view of the failure of policies centered on the condemnation of drug abuse, this work aims at contributing to the development of an educative proposal informed by the contextualization of socio-cultural, economic and political aspects of this phenomenon, and by the concept of damage reduction (DR). For that, making use of interviews, the work investigates the views about drugs and related issues expressed by 40 students from both public and private primary and secondary education schools in the State of Rio de Janeiro. Furthermore, it reviews the contents of an educative game about the inadequate use of drugs called Jogo da Onda (Wave Game) based on the documental analysis of the material. The interviews revealed that most students have a negative view of illegal drugs, minimize the risks of consuming them, and do not consider the singularities of the elements involved in the consumption (subject, type of drug, and context of use). These findings, added to the bibliographic review, guided the update of the content of the Jogo da Onda, and the proposition of new themes to be incorporated in a new edition of the material. In view of the gaps in the formation of educators regarding the theme of drugs, the lack of participative educative resources, and the interest of students in talking about this subject, this study attempts to give elements for the development of educative actions about drugs among youngsters, parents and educators.