News from members
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Mentor Foundation
NEWS RELEASE
A New E-Learning Resource for Parents to Protect Children From Drug Misuse
Mentor announces the launch of Prevention-Smart Parents (prevention-smart.org ), a free e-learning course that emphasizes the importance of parental influence and the family environment in preventing drug misuse. The website is scheduled to launch on June 26th, 2009 and coincides with the UN World Drug Day.
Parenting is a 24/7 activity, and parents have the greatest influence on their children’s lives. Prevention-Smart Parents is the first free global resource to help parents via an online e-learning program. It was created by scientists and individuals commissioned by Mentor from many countries so that the e-learning course applies to many cultures and communities.
The content is divided into easy-to-use chapters that provide comprehensive drug abuse prevention information for families with children of all ages. Each chapter is designed to actively engage users and provide practical resources for parents/caregivers to use at home and with their children.
Executive Director, Jeff Lee, says that one of the challenges in creating the website was to present content in ways that reflect many cultures and communities. “There are several prevention resources on the Internet that are country-specific. Our objective was to add a unique e-learning program that would be as relative to a mother in Uganda as is it to a father in Colombia. Our prevention website represents contributions from the entirety
of the Mentor Family, which does come from countries around the world.”
Dr. Ken Winters, a consultant to Mentor says: “When Mentor came to us, they asked for prevention strategies that are backed by science and tested in applied settings. A reliable finding from prevention research is that the most significant tools in drug misuse prevention are strong parenting and strong families. Prevention-Smart Parents is built around these
findings.”
Background to Mentor
Mentor aims to “help the helpers” by identifying the most promising and research-based practices. Prevention-Smart Parents is one of a range of ways that Mentor seeks to help children and support others around the world. The origins of the Mentor Foundation are traced to J. Christer Elfverson and a colleague, Hans Emblad, in 1993, while they were working
for the World Health Organization. The Mentor Foundation was registered in 1994 in Geneva as an independent, non-governmental, not for profit, apolitical organization, working in the field of drug misuse prevention at a global level.
Mentor began its work as an organization dedicated to the cause of drug misuse prevention, working in a special relationship with the World Health Organization. HM Queen of Sweden was its founding member along with HRH Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg, HM Queen Noor of Jordan, HRH Prince Talal Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, Bertil Hult, Stefan Persson, Nino Cerruti, Corinne Nardi-Schuler, Princess Anni-Frid Reuss, and Ivan Pictet.
“The common desire of our group is to defend the right of children everywhere to grow up with hopes for a healthy, bright future filled with possibilities” states HM Queen of Sweden. “The intent of Prevention-Smart Parents is to offer the latest science-based information to help parents raise healthy, drug-free children.”
The Mentor Foundation's Board of Trustees is drawn from a wide range of distinguished individuals from many countries, including members of royal families and celebrities. All members of the board are committed to Mentor's mission and are united by a deep concern for young people threatened by substance abuse.
Mentor’s objective is to provide scientifically sound responses to address the prevention of drug abuse and protect the health of young people. To this end it established, from the outset, a Scientific Advisory Network (SAN) of eminent experts in drugs and prevention from different parts of the world who make a major contribution towards Mentor's work.
To learn more about Prevention-Smart Parents, go to:
http://prevention-smart.org
For information about UN World Drug Day, go to:
http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/about-unodc/26-June.html
For more information about Mentor go to:
http://www.mentorfoundation.org
Kate Winters
Prevention-Smart Parents
The Mentor Foundation
5 Forest Road,
Loughborough, LE11 3NW
United Kingdom
