Preventive Education in Schools in Light of the Growing Phenomenon of Drug Abuse: A Proposed Socio-Educational Program for Protection Against the Risk of Addiction

Abstract

 Education is considered one of the social tools employed by society to regulate and organize individuals' behaviors, making them more beneficial and useful. Through education, societies grow, develop, and overcome many social problems. Various institutions undertake the important task of education, each with its distinct roles aimed at developing individuals morally and behaviorally by providing them with different standards, regulations, and values.

Within the realm of education's role, many social problems may arise, weakening the educational function of some social upbringing institutions due to the disruption of individuals' values and the deviation of their behaviors towards what harms society more than it benefits it. Perhaps the most dangerous of these problems, posing a social threat, is drug addiction, with the first affected being social upbringing institutions starting from the family to the school, and so forth.

This necessitates these institutions to activate their educational role and create more effective preventive mechanisms to fulfill their required role in facing the effects and consequences of addiction. The social responsibility of these institutions makes preventive education an inevitable rather than optional matter, especially in the educational environment, where its role is primarily educational, awareness-raising, and preventive.

This study aims to explore the concept of preventive education as a strategy for protection against the consequences of drug abuse, as a preventive mechanism before falling into the danger of addiction, thus exerting greater efforts in treatment and overcoming its cycles.