Take Action in Secondary Schools
SECTION IV:
Policies and Guidelines
While education and health promotion play a very important role in prevention, by themselves, they do not change behaviour. Policy approaches are needed to help ensure behaviour change. Part XIII of the Education Act, the Smoke Free Ontario Act, the Trespass to Property Act and the Criminal Code are examples of existing Public Policy that schools apply to deal with substance use.
Education and health promotion cannot do it all. Policy is needed to help ensure behaviour change.
The provincial Smoke-Free Ontario Act prohibits smoking in all schools and on all school property at all times. This Act is enforced through local public health units. Local public health units can be contacted to support the development of protocol to help enforce the Act.
The legislation of Part XIII of the Education Act gives the Minister of Education legal authorization to establish rules with respect to student conduct, suspensions, expulsions, and other discipline matters through the Ontario Code of Conduct. The Code of Conduct sets clear provincial standards of behaviour and specifies the mandatory consequences for student actions that do not comply with these standards. All participants involved in the publicly funded school system – students, parents or guardians, volunteers, teachers and other staff members are included in this Code of Conduct whether they are on school property, on school buses or at school authorized events or activities.
The Code of Conduct addresses a number of behaviours/infractions in which alcohol and drugs are included. It requires educators to respond to alcohol and drug occurrences within their own schools. Authority, in regulation 106 and regulation 37, addresses trafficking and drugs in school that leads to expulsion.
For more information on the Ontario Schools Code of Conduct visit the Ministry of Education website. Schools are encouraged to work cooperatively and in partnership with police, drug and alcohol agencies to promote prevention strategies and, when necessary, intervention strategies for those school members who are in possession of, or under the influence of, alcohol and illegal drugs.
This response can vary from the development of a board-wide policy, concerning student conduct and discipline related to substance use, to individual school policy, to more informal school guidelines.
Although some of these legal issues are complex, school boards and school officials can explore alternate disciplinary action in partnership with community agencies. The real challenge for educators is to play an appropriate educational role in terms of alcohol and drug use, and to do so in a manner that balances effectiveness, manageability and legal issues and concerns.
