10 -
Mr Sinclair said young people had to be helped to develop healthy and positive attitudes and skills to say no to drugs.
"Schools can do a lot here and the Education Department advises them to do so. All teachers have a responsibility, not just those concerned with the parts of the curriculum into which drug education is integrated.
"Every teacher can contribute to the creation of the right school atmosphere, that is, one which encourages the development of a positive self-image among young people and fosters effective communication between teachers and students," he said.
Mr Sinclair pointed out that the Narcotics Division was active in supplementing the schools' efforts, with more than 300 talks being given last year to more than 75,000 children at all levels from Primary Six upwards.
The Division also ran drug education workshops for aspiring teachers at the various teacher training colleges. Several longer workshops were also jointly organised with the Education Department to familiarise in-service teachers with the resources available for teaching about drugs.
Mr Sinclair noted that youngsters rated forgetting about their troubles as the main satisfaction to be obtained from drug taking. This suggested that drug abuse was a response to an unhappy life, and a sense of rejection, failure and hopelessness, he added. The Commissioner called on parents to take an interest in steering their children away from taking drugs.
"Be open, listen to them, and guide them past a danger which was not so prevalent when we were growing up," he said.
End/Wednesday, January 4, 1995
Blankets distributed to street-sleepers
A total of 504 blankets was distributed to 461 street-sleepers by Social Welfare Department staff throughout the territory last (Tuesday) night.
The blankets were given to 172 street-sleepers on Hong Kong Island, 20 in East Kowloon, 229 in West Kowloon, 30 in New Territories East and 10 in New Territories West.
End/Wednesday, January 4, 1995