A deprivation of true inspiration

What do we teach our children? We teach them that two and two make four and that Paris is the capital of France. When will we also teach them: Do you know who are you are? You are a marvel. You are unique … We must all work to make this world worthy of its children.

Casals gives us a very clear message here - the reason why students feel so hopeless as to harm themselves through drug use is because we are failing to inspire them. We need to reprioritise our education system and create new ways of protecting young people through resilience and inspiration.

Indeed, the United Nations World Health Organisation lists four protective factors that prevent drug use, suicide and depression in young people. These four factors being a connection with family, education, mentors and spiritual beliefs (which I also translate as acknowledging life as meaningful).

The drug problem that is occurring in our schools shows a deprivation of true inspiration; of true connection.

Instead of feeling connected with education young people feel the pressure to fit a mould or to compete in a game of achieving a tertiary qualification. The result being that some of them burn out far quicker than their years deserve, while others use drugs we prescribe as a dangerous pastime.

Instead of quenching the fire of possibility within these young people and firing the coals of their fear by ignoring their emotional needs we should be helping them find their uniqueness - their individuality - in a much more thorough way.

So, when I hear that another group of young people have overdosed on a prescription (or illicit) drug in an Australian school, it will continue to shock me so far as we have not addressed the issue of taking responsibility by placing drug counselling programs in every school around the country.

We need to be brave enough to try new education models to engage the creativity and ingenuity of our children so we can all leave this earth feeling a little more satisfied that we aren’t totally ignorant of our own potential to help this situation.