A Home Office report warns that dealing in crack and the gun culture associated with it are seen as an "attractive career option" by some young people.

A spokesman said head teachers would be allowed to shape their own policies, but the potential effects of crack are seen as an important element.

Parents are also said to need greater awareness of the dangers. What do you think? Should young children be taught about hard drugs?

This Talking Point has now closed. Read a selection of your comments below.

Being precious about your children's 'innocence' is doing them a disservice. We're here to protect them, not project our own sentimentality.
Wendy, UK

Who is to say that a knowledgeable child is a sensible child? R.C. Robjohn, UK

Telling children will not solve this problem. Who is to say that a knowledgeable child is a sensible child? The problem must be removed at source. If we can mobilise our security forces against a perceived terrorist threat then we can do the same against those who manufacture and distribute drugs.
R.C. Robjohn, UK

I'd rather they heard about it from their school teachers than from a crack dealer.
John, UK

Education should come in the early teens when kids really start asking questions and possibly being exposed to the temptation. Personally, I think the war on all drugs is lost until they are legalised, taxed, properly controlled, and the power taken away from the criminal fraternity.
Andy, UK

My sons went through the DARE anti-drug program, taught by local law enforcement officers when they were in 5th and 8th grade. The school program reinforced what they were taught at home. Today, they both think tobacco in any form is disgusting and have no curiosity about drug use. When accurate information is presented in age-appropriate form and supported by parents' behaviour and attitude, it will hopefully reduce drug problems.
Devon Adrian, California, USA

We need to be upfront about the "positive" effects drugs can cause William Sutton, British Columbia

Programs like DARE have proven to be ineffective in reducing drug use. We need to be as upfront about the "positive" effects drugs can cause. Whether we like it or not, hard drugs (often very expensive) are used by respectable adults as well as deprived addicts. It's better to be honest than scaring our children with the worst case scenarios of drug use.
William Sutton, British Columbia

We teach our children the dangers of crossing roads, of talking and accepting gifts and lifts from strangers. So why all the fuss about teaching them the real dangers of drug abuse?
Ron Knowles, UK

... and in order to find time in schools to teach this what subject do we drop: history, art, RE?
Garry, England

Children get the idea to try sex from the glamorous world of pop stars and so forth rather than the bland sex education delivered by excruciatingly embarrassed teachers.
Tracey, UK

Yes, but taught by alcohol and drug specialists. Police officers and firefighters visit classrooms all the time and are much more effective. They are professionals. Drug and alcohol specialists can inform students what different drugs and alcohol can do to their bodies and minds. Parents should also attend, it may also open their eyes.
Richard Webster, USA

Family backgrounds matter and something has to be done in that field. Like, for example if both mum and dad used to take drugs; there is a very high chance that the child will take drugs as well.
M Khan, UK

They will still change their minds later on Cliff Hulcoop, England

When I was in primary school there was a Superman campaign to discourage smoking. When the pupils grew up, they made their own decisions, often contrary to what was taught. Even if you teach them about drugs, they will still change their minds later on. Especially if they mix with people that do take drugs whose lives don't appear to be affected.
Cliff Hulcoop, England

Tell them what you will, but what children do if often influenced by their friends and peers.
Giles, UK

I've been living in the USA for two years and have two children in school here aged 10 and 11. They have just got their grade for drug education. It was the best thing they have been taught. They know everything about drugs and what to be aware of and in England they knew nothing. Today they have to grow up real quick.
Robinson, USA

In Sweden there is a close relationship between educational institutes and the police. Regular talks and information are given by police and former drug addicts through all stages of education. I know it helps parents and students to think twice. So the answer is YES, more and more information.
Professor Georges Didier, Sweden

Only selfish weaklings take class A drugs Stuart, England

Only selfish weaklings take class A drugs. Good riddance to them if they don't have the will and self-respect to resist using. I've endured terrible emotional pain in my life and not resorted to using them. No government can buck trends like this, it's a waste of time.
Stuart, England

I would rather my nine-year-old daughter didn't have to know about these things, but I'm afraid she must know, just as she must know not to accept a lift from a strange man. Innocence is fine, but to prolong it with ignorance is irresponsible.
Graham, UK

Has the government been taking ideas from South Park?
Brian, UK

Letting the children know about dangerous drugs is a clever idea. If children understand more about the effects the drugs would bring, it is less likely for them to take drugs in the future. If someone seduces our children to take drugs, our children may well say "no" because they now know how bad it would be.
Wei-Chu Wang, Taipei, Taiwan

Children will have plenty of opportunities to learn about the dangers of drugs when they get older Laurence, England

Drug-taking is part of a seedy adult world, the dark side of human nature. If you want to destroy childhood innocence and drag children's vulnerable minds into such a world then carry on. Children will have plenty of opportunities to learn about the dangers of drugs when they get older. While they are very young it is up to their parents and teachers to protect their world from such things.
Laurence, England

Every generation has its 'demon drug' - 15 years ago it was ecstasy (the Tories even tried to ban 'repetitive beat music'), today it's crack cocaine. Drug education makes no difference, it's just the government trying to look like they're being 'tough on drugs', and the media trying to scare people. Legalise the lot (cocaine included) and regulate sales. That'll get rid of the gangsters and change the 'drug problem' from a law and order one to a health issue. Future generations will not believe how absurd our drugs policies have been since 1971.
James Ireland, UK

This shows me how useless and ineffective our drug laws have become. We cannot stop drugs but we can pull the rug out from under the sellers by legalising them to pharmacies who will control quantities and sales to people over 18.
Pete, UK

The sooner we punish criminals with real punishments the sooner the attraction for such things will disappear. It seems that instead of addressing the issue we circumnavigate it by eroding the youthful innocence of our children.
Farrukh, UK

Armed with a little knowledge, I'm sure he would still be around today Patrick V Staton, Guildford, UK

My ex-wife's son suffered from drug-related psychiatric problems and died a few days before Christmas 1994 after throwing himself from the top of a multi-storey car park. He never reached 21 years of age. Six years previously, we were made aware that class A drugs were being peddled over the fence at the public school he was attending. Armed with a little knowledge, I'm sure he would still be around today. I have just ONE message for anyone out there who believes for an instant that this problem will go away if we all simply pull the covers over our heads: GET AN URGENT REALITY CHECK. NOW!
Patrick V Staton, Guildford, UK

It depends where you live. If you're having problems in an area then its the right thing to do, but if you are in an area without a problem then I'd be very wary of letting small children even know of its existence because that could make them inquisitive.
Pete, UK

If you want to get through to children you have to tell them the truth. It's a very sad state of affairs but young children are drawn every day into the world of hard drugs and the only way of combating this is to give them the full, unabridged, dirty truth about drugs and the consequences of drugs.
Simon, UK

We all had drugs education at school, albeit later in our education, so the question is not whether we should be educated but rather when. We'd all like to live in a world we're it's not necessary, but it appears that it is. Primary schooling is between four and eleven - and we now live in a time when kids that age are vulnerable.
Wendy, UK

I'm from a country with one of the lowest number of hard and soft drug addicts in Europe, because it's easy to get information here. Soft drugs are more or less legalized and hard drug-users are treated as patients. But like the UK, we should still do more to inform kids. We are all finally realizing we should fight the reasons why kids take drugs. We live in a society where demand and supply works well. Fighting the demand is much easier then fighting the supply when there is still lots of demand.
Maarten Abbring, Netherlands

Lecturing young children on such matters will only make them more curious Colm Nee, England

Although I am glad that the government is finally dealing with the drugs problem I think this is the wrong way to go about it. Lecturing young children on such matters will only make them more curious to the subject and the will be more likely to be involved with drugs at a later age. Children need their innocent ignorance to be preserved not exposed.
Colm Nee, England

I would agree with children being taught the dangers of harmful drugs. They could also bring in addicts or ex-addicts to tell them how awful drugs are. Teaching about the dangers and after effects of drugs should also be part of the course they children should under go.
Nick R, UK

Should pupils be taught about crack? What a question - of course they should know before it's too late! Children are the near future customers of crack dealers.
Jawad, UK

The danger is that these lessons are likely to be one-sided, and too selective in content ie preaching in nature, while censoring the sordid details that justify the opinions being encouraged. This could backfire in later years when the children question what they have been told. Better to leave them ignorant than give them unconvincing arguments for avoiding drugs. Do it properly or not at all.
Ray, UK

Behaviour is a fruit of belief. A reality of life is that we are profoundly influenced in our early years. If children are taught that (all) drugs are wrong and dangerous there will be many who wouldn't consider it an option. Much of the prevalence of the current drug culture is a direct result of many, especially youngsters, believing that drugs are not harmful and that addiction can be resisted.
David Parsons, England

Despite nearly all the research evidence which (pretty uniformly) suggests that more drugs education results in increased drug use in children, there is still a blind assumption at policy making level that yet more drugs education will result in lower levels drugs use. This is crazy. In fact, the more shocking the tactic, the more it is associated with increased drug use.
Malcolm, UK

Alienating drugs causes interest and eventually curiosity will win Malcolm Leaky, UK

Just so long as the government doesn't use scare tactics to put children off - then it would hopefully work. Alienating drugs causes interest and eventually curiosity will win, and they'll discover how good crack makes you feel.
Malcolm Leaky, UK

Drugs should definitely be talked about in schools, no question. However, because this is also undoubtedly a sensitive subject any talks should be delivered in the right way for the age group of the audience. There is no point in covering anything up and the more aware young children are about drugs - the better.
Katherine, UK

The earlier full and comprehensive drugs education is taught, the more prevention we can do Lou, UK

Yes children should. It's all very well saying we should protect their innocence but on many estates in Britain young kids are surrounded by this every day. The earlier full and comprehensive drugs education is taught, the more prevention we can do. Full information is needed though, not just 'drugs are bad, don't do them'. That approach has never worked; children need to understand why people do them, but the reality of the situation and the effects of these drugs. If they stay ignorant, they are more likely to fall into that way of life themselves.
Lou, UK

As long as crack is on our streets, children need to be educated about it. You wouldn't let a child cross the road without teaching him/her road safety.
Charlotte, UK

Isn't it about time this country stopped robbing children of their childhood?! We already ludicrously teach children sex education at an early age and all we see is a rise in young pregnancies. This is due to the curiosity which is raised in the mind of the young, that soon becomes a dangerous game of aspirations in terms of 'who's done what' in the playground. As with nearly every other issue related to society (of which it knows little) the government, clearly, never learns from its mistakes!
Dan, England

Surely education is preferable to ignorance? This really depends on how the emphasis is to be placed - I'd like children to know how it ruins your life, how it ruins your families lives, how no matter how tempting the rewards may seem, they're not worth it in the end. If it's going to sound more like an advert for the stuff, then better off ignoring it entirely!
Rog C, UK

Should we teach children the dangers? Who in their right mind would let them find out the dangers themselves?
Tony Moody, UK

Yes, definitely. Otherwise they will try and find out about the drug by taking it which is a dangerous way to approach drugs education!! At least by telling them the facts they are going to make an informed decision as to whether or not they want to try crack or any other drug. The alternative of just telling kids 'no' will mean a larger amount of them will rebel. It is natural - all kids push the boundaries of rules!
Anon, UK

No. Parents should be taught, and encouraged, to take responsibility for the activities of their children. The drug problem is caused by bad parents - not bad children.
Chris Worrallo, UK

Kids are smarter than adults would like to believe, and they can easily see through the "just say no" propaganda that's been used David Moran, Scotland/Australia

Of course children should be taught about the dangers of crack, just as they should be taught the dangers of running out into a road full of traffic, or the dangers of sticking your fingers into a power-socket. My worry though is that the "teaching" will be of the "all drugs are evil and are guaranteed to kill you" kind, which will be comprehensively ignored by the kids because they know it isn't so. Kids are smarter than adults would like to believe, and they can easily see through the "just say no" propaganda that's been used, and failed, in the past.
David Moran, Scotland/Australia

The most effective anti-drugs education I had at school was a special science lesson. A drugs expert came and went through all the drugs available on the market. He explained why people used them, and what the positive and negative physiological effects were. There was no judgement on whether we should or should not use the drugs, just straight facts. This was better prevention than any number of alarmist government campaigns.
Ian Ledzion, Switzerland

Without a shadow of a doubt they should be taught and shown the effects of hard drugs on individuals and society. The gloss of something unknown and 'forbidden' should be removed forever.
Chris, UK

Education is the only way to overcome the evils in life - if they are taught how terrible the consequences are when they are younger, they are going to be far less likely to want to start taking the drugs.
Nicki, England

Children should be kept as far away from drugs as the Earth is from the sun! Happy Drug Free Christmas
r steward, Great Britain

Better late than never, finally the government has seen sense. If we don't concentrate on the harder drugs in this country we will have a terrible society in the future. We need to stop worrying about the effects of cannabis and look towards education in Class A's and alcohol. They are the culprits!
Mark Rowland, UK

Experience shows that the more you talk about a subject, the more pupils get interested in it Tony Bennett, UK

The same arguments apply to teaching children about cocaine as apply to sex education. Experience shows that the more you talk about a subject, the more pupils get interested in it. The more sex is taught and discussed in the classroom, the more likely children are to try it. The main role of education should be to impart knowledge and to train a child to read, write, acquire number and other skills, and to think for himself. If we want to prevent children taking drugs, let's adopt the Swedish model where some of the toughest drugs laws in Europe have drastically reduced the numbers abusing drugs.
Tony Bennett, UK

In a word, yes. However, the lessons should be hard-hitting with emphasis on the damage they can do and what the consequences are.
Stephen Ash, Wales