Part A - Society for Public Health Education

student or child, they can call on addiction treatment professionals, schoolcounselors, or schools nurses.* If school officials observe the illegal distribution, possession, sale, transportation,or manufacture of controlled and dangerous substances on schoolproperty, they should contact local law enforcement.* If a parent suspects his or her child is using meth, the parent should ask thechild’s doctor, a chemical dependency counselor, or the child’s school counselorfor confidential assistance. Parents should consider contacting a schoolcounselor, county social service agency, or reputable treatment facility toperform a chemical dependency assessment to see if the child is in danger.Role of School Officials and Parents inCommunity Action EffortsSchool officials and parents are one of the subgroups in a community that are mostaffected by the meth problem and should be an integral part of any communityaction effort. School officials and parents play a key role in drug prevention education,detection of meth use and abuse among youth, and support of children ofmeth users. This subgroup can also provide insight about community action efforts(in addition to prevention education) that might be effective with young adults.© 2007 Society for Public Health Education54 Helping Communities Combat Clandestine Methamphetamine Laboratories