Parents need to be given the proper tools to tackle the issue of drug use by the Island’s youth, according to the Family Centre.Responding to the results of the National School Survey, released yesterday, Martha Dismont of the Family Centre said she was concerned that students believed drugs were easily available.“Parents are not paying attention,” she said.The results of the survey revealed the use of alcohol, marijuana, cigarettes and most other drugs by young people have fallen since 2007. However more than 40 percent of students claimed marijuana was easy to find.“Even if we take 20 percent of the survey and say it’s exaggeration, it’s still a large percentage of children saying they can get drugs,” Mrs Dismont said.Based on the results, she argued more effort needs to be made to ensure that parents are properly equipped to deal with their children and combat the known influence of peer pressure.“Its been said many times before, but in these groups it’s the people who smoke and drink that are considered cool,” she said. “There needs to be more drug education, and some of those programmes must be available to parents to tell them how to work with children when they are using.”She said Government needs to make sure the right programmes are properly funded for a sufficient length of time.“Part of the reason why we don’t see the desired results from some programmes is inconsistent funding and not maintaining the stream of funding until they can get proper results.“If you don’t allow a programme to run its course you take so many steps backwards. These programmes need to be stable and be given the funding to continue over the course of time that is needed.”Grant Gibbons, Shadow Minister of Education, said it was concerning that more than one fifth of surveyed students said they had attacked someone with intent to cause harm in the last year.Even more worrisome, he felt, was the revelation that a small percentage of students (1.4 percent) admitted bringing a handgun to school.“It’s a small percentage, but significant,” Dr Gibbons said. “This sort of information coming back from the report needs to be thought about very carefully.“The Ministry of Education and schools need to think how they are going to address the possibility of a student coming to school with a firearm. We have to give a lot more thought about it.“We have seen enough incidents in the United States where students, in schools and colleges, have brought a gun to school and caused major harm.”Dr Gibbons also noted that, according to the report, opportunities and rewards in schools have proven effective in combating drug usage.“One of the issues that the OBA has been promoting is a longer school day, which could do exactly that by providing more time for sports, arts and music,” Dr Gibbons said.“I think that this suggests that this is a good direction, that if we keep them active and engaged we will keep them away from substance abuse.”He further called for better early intervention, helping preschool students from troubled upbringings better prepare themselves for school so that they are less likely to become frustrated, and for drug intervention programmes to be evaluated to ensure that they are making a difference.“I think that hopefully this report will not sit on the shelf,” Dr Gibbons said. “We need to make sure that what intervention programmes are in place are effective.”PRIDE executive director Judith Burgess said that the figures regarding marijuana and alcohol use in schools were positive, and she was pleased that school and family reward systems had been proven effective.“It was really exciting and educational to know that some of the effects of drugs have been reduced,” she said.“However, we are concerned about the use of inhalants, particularly because it is something that young people are using at such a young age.”According to the survey, the average age that a student first used inhalants was just 9.3 years old.“At that age, they are still in primary school,” Ms Burgess said.While inhalant use dropped off as students get older, Ms Burgess said it was possible the students were moving on to other drugs, noting that the survey found sensation seeking as the main factor leading to drug use.“I would say that especially with that risk factor of sensation seeking being higher than I for one estimated, they are likely seeking sensation at that young age,” she added. “If they start at that age I don’t think they are just going to stop.”Based on the survey, Ms Burgess said that PRIDE would refocus its efforts and life skills programmes on dealing with sensation seeking behaviour and look at some form of drug intervention with younger students.Regarding the violent antisocial behaviour recorded in the survey, Ms Burgess said was almost certainly linked to the use of drugs and alcohol, saying: “You cannot separate the two.”