One Day Seminar for Teachers on Substance Use Prevention was organized by ISSUP Pakistan National Chapter in collaboration with Youth Forum Pakistan (For Dug Use Prevention) and M A Jinnah Foundation (Regd), Sialkot on November 24th, 2020 at Government High School Daska Road, Sialkot.
The program was aimed to educate teachers on how to educate their students about drug use prevention and to instill vital life skills in their students in order to survive and succeed in today's competitive world. The main speaker was Ms. Saima Asghar, Director ISSUP Pakistan National Chapter, General Secretary M A Jinnah Foundation, and Executive Director of New Life Rehab Center, Sialkot-Pakistan.
Great importance was put on the role of teachers in student’s career building, understanding their unprecedented and pivotal role in transforming society and the main topics was on pertaining to child psychology, the danger that drugs pose, What is Addiction, causes of drug use and effect on our mind, body and Society like Addiction is a Bio, Psycho, Social disease. The participants engaged in interactive activities where they identified major drugs being used in their areas and the underlying causes of their prevalence. The best part was that the participants belonged to diverse backgrounds including teachers and other health professionals.
Moreover, teachers were educated on what role they should play in the classroom to avoid the development of such habits within children. Teachers were encouraged to take an appreciative approach and to motivate children rather than scold or demotivate them. This helps children develop feelings of self-worth and confidence. Teachers are responsible for creating a safe and interactive environment for students where they can be open about their problems with the teachers and are able to develop essential life skills of effective communication and interacting with others. This is important because a major reason for people getting involved in drugs is failure to maintain healthy relationships with family, friends and society in general. As a result such individuals end up forming a relationship with drugs. Therefore, it is the duty of teachers to instill the importance of forming effective and healthy relationships in their students. We successfully educated 35 female teachers from public/Government schools.