Which cannabis material is suitable for lessons?

For lessons on cannabis prevention, the Federal Institute for Public Health (BIÖG) provides materials that teachers can use. The BIÖG was formerly called BZgA. Suitable material matches the age group, names facts that can be checked, does not play anything down and leaves room for questions. This article shows what to look for when selecting material and which offers can complement it.

What good prevention material should achieve

Prevention material informs without frightening, and it sticks to facts. The specialist page for teachers at cannabispraevention.de emphasises that prevention work also means imparting knowledge. The material must therefore be traceable: what does it say, where does it come from, and what can be backed up with it in lessons?

In addition, the material should take young people's everyday world seriously. The specialist page advises addressing young people in a factual and differentiated way. In our view, material should also name reasons and not just list bans.

Selection: four test questions

Before you use a material, answer four questions:

• Which age group is it made for, and does the language suit the class?
• Which health claims does it make, and do they come from a source you can check?
• Does it contain legal information, and does this match the Cannabis Act (KCanG)?
• Does it leave room for questions and discussion, or does it prescribe only one answer?

It is best to check legal information against the law itself. The ban on use at schools is set out in section 5 KCanG. Anyone who passes cannabis on to children or young people commits an offence under section 34 KCanG.

A comparison of the main offers

The following table shows which offers suit which purposes. It serves as orientation and does not replace your own check of the content.

Offer	For whom	What it is suitable for
BIÖG materials	Teachers and school classes	Imparting knowledge in lessons
drugcom Cannabis Check	Young people	Assessing one's own use over the last twelve months
DHS Suchthilfeverzeichnis	Affected people and families	Finding advice centres, filterable by postcode, town, radius and federal state
Sucht und Drogen Hotline	Affected people and relatives	Anonymous advice on addiction and drugs

Using material in lessons

Material works best when it is embedded in a teaching unit. A sequence makes sense: convey facts, collect questions, place health risks together and finally name help services. This keeps the lesson from becoming abstract.

Topics that affect young people themselves make sense. Concentration is one such topic, because frequent cannabis use disrupts it, which can also lead to problems at school and in training, as the BIÖG writes on its page about the dangers for young people. The BIÖG also emphasises that the young brain is in an important phase of development. The article How does cannabis affect school performance? covers this topic in more depth. More on protecting young people is available on the page youth protection.

What material cannot achieve

No teaching material replaces advice for individual cases. If a pupil is already using and needs help, one lesson is not enough. School social work and advice centres then take over individual counselling. The DHS Suchthilfeverzeichnis finds suitable services by postcode.

Material does not replace your own attitude either. Teachers should expect follow-up questions, including about their own use. The specialist page recommends reflecting on your own attitude beforehand. Anyone who cannot answer a question with certainty says so openly and clarifies the answer later with a material or a specialist service. That is better than an unverified answer.

Material for parents and families

Not only the class needs information. Parents benefit from clear details they can use at home. The specialist site cannabispraevention.de offers information for various target groups. When selecting material for parents, look for material that combines health facts with sources and does not only warn.

A short information sheet with the most important rules, a list of contact points and a note about the parents' conversation is useful. Such a sheet can be handed out at the parents' evening and published on the school's website.

Reviewing material within the teaching staff

Before material goes into lessons, two or three teachers should read it together. Each person asks different questions. One looks at the language, another at the facts, and a third at whether help services are named. This produces a judgement that goes beyond a personal impression. It is also important that the material fits the rules of your own school.

After use, note what worked well and what confused the class. This record helps in the next school year. Material becomes outdated, so the review is an ongoing task.

Contact points at the end of the unit

Every unit should end with a list of offers. Name the Sucht und Drogen Hotline on 01806 313031 and the DHS Suchthilfeverzeichnis. Pupils who have questions later then know where to start. Starting the lesson with a question also helps: a question collected anonymously from the class shows what young people are really concerned about.

What you can do next

First decide what the unit is for: knowledge, attitude or help. Then choose a material that fits that aim and check it with the four questions. Add information about help services so that pupils know where to turn. An overview of all prevention topics is offered on the page Prevention. For individual cases, use the Sucht und Drogen Hotline on 01806 313031.