Prevalence, attitudes and knowledge of high school pupils towards drugs and other addictions: implications for school health education in Israel

One hundred and fifteen high school pupils from Holon (a city in the center of Israel) participated in a study about the prevalence, knowledge and att itudes of these pupils towards drugs and other addictions (cigarettes and a lcohol). Their mean age was 16.13 (+/-1.59) years; 43.9% were boys and 56.1 % were girls. A total of 1.6% of the pupils regularly used illicit drugs, a nd an additional 11.3% were offered drugs, A total of 24% of the pupils smo ked regularly (at least during the past year), and 42% consumed alcoholic b everages regularly. Their knowledge concerning illicit drugs was found to b e inadequate; they correctly answered only 50% of the total study questions . A more liberal attitude towards illicit drugs was found with increasing a ge. Pupils who consumed illicit drugs received a higher scoring for their k nowledge concerning the characteristics of various illicit drugs, as well a s to having a more liberal attitude. The self image of the pupils who had e xperience with illicit drugs was lower tin two separate tests) in compariso n to their peers. As a result of our study, our recommendation is to includ e the subject of illicit drugs, their dangers and prevention of their use i n the official school curriculum from elementary school and during all subs equent school years. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.