Supporting parents through schools
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One way for churches to engage with the surrounding community is through local schools. But how do you get in touch with schools in your area? And what could you offer that's unique and useful when you finally get to talk to the Head Teacher?
Pat Hannigan runs Care for the Family's 'How to Drug Proof Your Kids®' ( DPYK ) courses for parents with her husband, John. They've approached schools about running DPYK , having already run drugs education classes with children as drugs educators for national charity Hope UK.
"We've already got a relationship with the schools because of our work with Hope UK," explains Pat. "We go in for hour-long sessions over five weeks to talk to the children about drugs, particularly the Year 6 pupils.
"But we felt we wanted to do more , and the next step seemed to be to talk to parents. It seems many parents believe that their kids are immune to drugs, but drugs are no respecter of persons. Any child is vulnerable to drugs , regardless of whether they have a good education, or come from an affluent background.
"To protect children from drugs, it is definitely helpful to start talking to parents. What we've found is that many parents think drugs education is nothing to do with them, and it should come from teachers. Many have very little or no understanding of drugs. On one course we had two mothers whose brother had overdosed, and yet their drugs knowledge was minimal."
Approaching the school
Pat and John's good relationship with the schools stretches back over 30 years, so the suggestion of a course for parents was welcomed . But they still faced some challenges, many of which would be encountered by anyone seeking to run DPYK in schools.
"The first thing a school will say to you when you mention drugs education is, 'Oh, the police come in for that'. Don't let that put you off," says Pat. "Ask what the police talk about, and how long they come in for. Is it just one assembly a term?
" Even if the children are receiving drugs education from the police, their parents won't be . We ask parents the question, 'Do your children know more about drugs than you do?' It makes parents think. When head teachers recognise that gap in knowledge, they can see why running a parenting course is a good idea.
"We've found it helps to work with the police too. Recently, we had a meeting about DPYK courses with the police officers who do drugs education in schools, the head teacher and other members of staff. When the police officers heard about DPYK , they were very enthusiastic and supportive. Getting the endorsement of the police is very helpful in opening doors."
Lessons learned from working with schools
While running a DPYK course is often hugely encouraging, Pat has also resolved to learn from when things haven't gone so well. "We had a negative experience on one course, where the school selected parents it felt would most benefit from the course and asked them to come. Unfortunately, those parents didn't really want to be there. We've found courses are much more successful when parents sign up of their own accord.
"Another thing we've found that helps is a ' taster evening '. This gives parents and staff an opportunity to come along and see what it's all about. It also helps you address people's preconceptions of drugs, and to point out that drugs can affect any child in any family. We've had an 'aware' night in our church too.
"A good thing about working through schools as well is that you can use a low-cost venue, keeping the course costs down. In our experience, parents don't want to pay too much so running a course in the school helps."