Education about drugs is more than drug education! What happens in the classroom is but one aspect of supporting young people to manage a world in which drugs are an everyday reality. Current initiatives in Tasmanian education focus more on the bigger picture - on the provision of supportive and inclusive environments in the school and surrounding community which promote resilience in young people.

"Resilience" is defined as the capacity to "bounce back from adversity" (Wolin and Wolin, 1999). In the context of drug related behaviours there is evidence that elements of resilience such as connectedness and belonging are factors that reduce the level of problematic substance use in young people. The evidence suggests that resilient young people are better equipped to make healthy decisions about behaviours such as substance use which have a potential for harm.

Programs to promote resilience need to be collaboratively developed and implemented in such a fashion that partnerships between schools and communities are enduring and make provision for :

• caring and supportive relationships with other people;

• high family and community expectations for the young person's behaviour;

• opportunities for participation in meaningful activity; and

• opportunities to practise social skills.

These factors override individual curricula and engage the whole school community in drug education in its broadest definition.

• Overview of the project
• State Strategy
• National Strategy
• Drug Education Policy
• Funding opportunities
• Working with the project
• Professional learning
• Resources
• Contacts