Prevention in Uuraisten yläaste, Finland ( by Mauno Kaartinen)

Prevention in our school is mainly regarded as preparing pupils for the adults’ world. It has been integrated into as many subjects as possible: biology, religion, P.E., home economics, social sciences, foreign languages. The main focus is on the fact that the pupils themselves could realize the importance of healthy life.

In the eighth grade we have a special subject, one lesson a week, for health science including First Aid. In our school we also have a special lesson in every grade (from 7th to 9th) once in a fortnight, called ‘the Class teacher’s lesson’, when different actual topics are systematically  discussed:

In the 7th grade focussing on prevention of bullying and smoking; in the 8th grade on prevention of abusing alcohol and drugs ; on discussing problems in dating; in the 9th grade concentrating on so called ‘skills of life’.

The school nurse interviews each pupil twice during the three school years. She also attends health science lessons focussing on sex education.

The police  also visits school regularly and informs the pupils about alcohol and drugs.

Parents’ meetings are also a very important  element in working against  harmful factors in young people’s lives. The themes of each class level are discussed based on the ideas suggested by the introductory speaker.

In our school we concentrate a lot on prevention of smoking. As we see it, smoking is the first step towards addiction and it usually leads to beer and other liquors. If the young person learn to say ‘No’ to it, he has learnt a lot. According to the Finnish law smoking in public buildings is strictly forbidden and it is illegal for young people under 18 years. Only a small minority tries to smoke during the school day. When a pupil is caught from smoking the parents are informed about it.

Beer drinking is a slight problem during weekends and varies from an age group to another.
Use of drugs is not a problem in Uurainen, yet, even if they are available in the nearby city of Jyväskylä.

From this year on the pupils sign an agreement of rights and responsibilities for promoting good working atmosphere and good behaviour . This is a new method of trying to clarify the fact that each pupil himself is personally responsible for his deeds.