December 2009     Researchers at the University of Sydney have undertaken the first detailed analysis of Australia's Life Education program, a drug education program which is now a core part of the primary and secondary school curriculum.

The study conducted by Miranda Stewart and Dr Jenny O'Dea from the University's Faculty of Education and Social Work explored the experiences of the Life Education program among Year 6 and Year 10 students and their mothers.Eighteen focus groups were conducted with Year 6 and Year 10 students and interviews were conducted with five mothers.

In Australia, drug education is a core component of the primary and secondary school curriculum, and Life Education Australia is the only not-for-profit, non-government organisation available to assist with the delivery of drug education programs.

One of the mothers surveyed said: "as he's getting older and he says more things about illegal drugs and about smoking and drinking and things like that, I'm getting more confident that he will make better choices because of the education that he's getting about it…at school and Life Ed, and maybe even the way I…we at home talk about things like that too."

Students in years 6 and 10, who had all participated in the Life Education program yearly since Kindergarten said the Life Education Program was good because it was fun, hands-on and very different to classroom experiences. Interestingly,students still believed that their parents played the most important role in their own drug education by being part of family discussions about smoking, alcohol and other drugs.

The researchers found that:

• Mothers were very happy to send their children to the Life Education van because they said it stimulated conversations about drugswhen they got home. Thus, the children came home wanting to ask their parents about drugs!
• Studentssaid they would like to discuss drugs MORE OFTEN with their parents at home - they actually like hearing their parents point of view.
• Mothers who did not speak English as a first languagebelieved that the Life Education program was a better source of information than they could provide themselves.
• Both students and mothers believe that the lessons will prepare them to deal with being offered cigarettes, alcohol and drugs not right now, but in the future - a surprisingly similar result.
• Life Education appears to have had a very positive impact on students and their families.

From a media release by The University of Sydney, December 14, 2009

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