TEACHING ABOUT INTOXICATING SUBSTANCES IN PRIMARY SCHOOL: TEACHER STUDENTS´ THOUGHTS ON THE SUBJECT

Exposure to harmful substances such as alcohol, tobacco and drugs, is a danger and risk for the well being and health of children. The better children understand these dangers, the easier it is to avoid the adverse effects. Several studies have dealt with harmful substances and the well-being of young people. However, the role of formal, as well as informal education has not been studied as extensively. This paper presents the first preliminary results from a larger project. This project focuses on what and how toxicology is taught in Finnish schools and how children and young people get information about harmful compounds. The aim of the project is to create a better way of teaching toxicology in school. This paper reveals teacher's students' thoughts on the teaching of intoxicating substances in primary school. Teacher students wrote before their studies of module “The Human being”. The result of the study shows that primary school teacher students thought that teaching which relates to intoxicating substances, should be neutral and based on facts. We believe that the preliminary results of this study will be useful in improving the teaching of intoxicating substances in teacher education.