'New realities' for students prompt drug resources for Waterloo region's teachers

Teachers in Waterloo region have new resources to draw from as they engage students in conversations about today's drug culture. 

The Region of Waterloo Public Health department has been working with education consultants to develop lesson plans, information sheets, videos and other curriculum supports on a variety of topics. 

"I think there are the new realities and we're just trying to respond to those," said Peter Rubenschuh, a superintendent of student achievement and well-being with the Waterloo Region District School Board. 

'Prevent any kind of harm'

He said the new resources will help teachers talk to their students about binge drinking, the legalization of cannabis, drug overdoses and the Good Samaritan law. 

"We want to have all of those conversations so that, when students find themselves in that environment, they've already done some pre-thinking," he said.

"It's really about preparing them so that ultimately we prevent any kind of harm."

• Naloxone kits in high schools a 'proactive' move, school board says
• No pot for public, Catholic school students, even after legalization

A group of high school health teachers were introduced to the material in November during a orientation workshop and participants gave the resources positive reviews, said Grace Bermingham, manager of harm reduction with public health.

"Teachers thought that it was really in line with the types of tools that they would need to be able to provide the students with an engaging and, in some ways, interactive lesson plan," she said.

Based on Elmira overdose training

She said public health put a lot of effort into making the lessons engaging and relevant to youth living in Waterloo region. 

To do that, she said they relied heavily on feedback from students at Elmira District Secondary School, who have been receiving overdose training since 2014. 

• Overdose training at Elmira secondary school reaches milestone
• Drug overdose prevention program aimed at empowering high school students

Bermingham said public health was not initially interested in replicating that training in other secondary schools, but the drug landscape has changed in recent years. 

With the rise of the opioid crisis and the legalization of cannabis, she said it was "time to make sure that other students across our community have an opportunity to get [that] information."

Public health plans to put the new resources on their website in the coming weeks for any teacher to access and use.