Drug education in the DLSU NSTP CWTS and LTS program

• Main Author: Amistoso, Marjorie G.
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2017
• Subjects: Drug abuse—Study and teaching; Chemicals and Drugs; Education
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/12136
• Institution: De La Salle University

The De La Salle University National Service Training Program through its Civic Welfare Training Service and the Literacy Training Service (NSTP-CWTS/LTS) components added "Drug Education" in one of its module for its NSTP1 Formation Phase. This is in compliance to the Revised NSTP Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) which included Drug Education as one of its topics to be discussed based on Required Minimum Standards (RMS) for the implementation of NSTP and also to adhere to the National Anti-Drug Plan of Action (NDAP) 20152022 which outlines the government's efforts against illegal drugs. the NDAP delegates the Department of Education (DepEd) and Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to distribute information and educational materials on dangerous drugs. Under the NDAP, DepEd is tasked to "integrate instruction on drug abuse prevention" in all public and private schools, while CHED is expected to contribute by strengthening the implementation of the National Service Training Program (NSTP).The prevalence of drug use and substance abuse among college students has been a pressing concern for Philippine society, particularly in colleges and universities. According to the Dangerous Drugs Board (DBB), the combination of greater freedom and the weaknesses of youth make dabbling in recreational drugs a problem that afflicts a number of college age people year after year. Although exact statistics on the drug problem among college students can be hard to pin down to an exact number due attributed mostly to reticence of most users of illicit drugs to admit to using said drugs or risk exposing their sources for fear of possible physical and social retribution from peer groups and drug dealers, the DDB has estimated that around 23.84% of the 1.3 million drug users in the country have reached at least the college level.In order to help combat the further proliferation of drugs among the young people of the country both the CHED and DepEd have in recent years implemented stronger and more comprehensive approaches to the drug problem. The DLSU-NSTP (CWTS & LTS) has integrated into its module a more holistic and comprehensive measure against the problem of drug abuse. The module is guided by the NSTP- CWTS/LTS Formation Framework and inspired by the Lasallian Reflection Framework (LRF). The Lasallian Reflection Framework (LRF) of see-judge-act can be used a valuable resource in applying formation based approaches to curbing the drug problem of young people. It is through the process of understanding the destructive properties that drugs can have on the self, those around them (family, friends, significant others), that young people realize the problems of drug dependency. It focuses on the aspect of discernment or judging one's self and seeing the path out of drug dependency or realizing how easy it is to fall into the false idea that recreational drug use has no real victims. The last step of the Lasallian Reflection Framework is the aspect of acting on the ideas gleamed from the first two steps which can lead into actions that ultimately work towards the betterment of the self and society.