The Age – Healthy Harold the Giraffe makes strides to teach dangers of ice

24 August 2016 – Author: Henrietta Cook – Source: The Age

Most Australians remember him as the friendly giraffe who pulled into their school in the Life Education van to talk about healthy eating.

But as society has changed, so too has Healthy Harold the giraffe.

The Life Education van is updating its repertoire to teach primary school students about the dangers of the drug ice.

For the first time, year 5 and 6 students will learn that ice is a stimulant drug that speeds up messages travelling between their brains and body parts.

Life Education Australia will expand its program, with the help of Healthy Harold.

They will learn that it has come-down effects that may include sweating, headaches and anxiety. And they will learn that the drug is available in many forms, including “small, chunky, clear crystals”.

Robyn Richardson, Life Education Australia’s national manager of program development, said schools had requested that the popular program include information about illicit drugs, including ice.

The not-for-profit organisation also wanted to respond to alarming statistics that show Australia has one of the highest rates of illicit methamphetamine use in the world.

“We identified a need,” said Ms Richardson. “We want to make sure that students really understand the facts so they can make informed decisions. It will be age appropriate and teach them about safe decision-making in the context of drugs.”

Schools can choose whether the new program, which will be available from term four, includes information about ice.

While the program – which has been running in Australian schools for 36 years – has always discussed such legal drugs as tobacco, alcohol and caffeine, this is the first time it has covered illegal drugs in primary schools.

Ms Richardson stressed that the program would still cover nutrition, physical activity, safety and positive relationships.

Life Education isn’t the only group discussing ice in primary schools. The Community Ice Action Grant Group – a collective of churchgoers from the regional towns of Donald, St Arnaud, Wycheproof and Charleton – organised a series of seminars at local primary schools earlier this year called “Drug-proof your kids”. They were attended by parents and students.

They group also arranged for guest speakers to go into primary and secondary schools to speak about the dangers of drugs, and who to turn to for help.

“We were concerned about drugs and the availability of them in our community and wanted to be proactive,” Carly Pearse, a member of the group that ran the seminars, said.

She said that there were a lot of young people in the area using drugs, and it was important that they learnt healthy habits at a young age.

Fairfax Media reported on Tuesday that agencies were fielding calls from desperate principals who wanted help dealing with parents and students using ice. Some reported that students were turning up to school affected by the drug, and teachers were working in pairs for safety.

St Arnaud Primary School principal Melissa Mitchell said the seminars taught parents about “protective factors”, which made children less likely to turn to drugs.

“I thought it was important that they had access to the latest research and professional advice,” she said.