Former Royal Navy Policeman gives specialist talk to pupils and parents

December 3, 2018

“Brilliant” and “invaluable” were how parents described the information given by a former Royal Navy Policeman in a series of specialist lectures to pupils and parents.

Bob Tait, of Drugs Education UK (DRED UK) and a former member of the Royal Navy Drugs Education Team, talked about drugs to parents and pupils at Monmouth School for Girls and Monmouth School for Boys as part of the Confidence4Life (PSHE) programme.

B­ob has been working with schools on Drug and Alcohol education for many years. The sessions were tailored for specific age groups (Year 9 and above) and covered everything from illegal drugs, medicines and alcohol, through to UK and global law on drugs-related convictions.  The parents’ lecture in the evening focused on the legal ramifications for students both in terms of their university education and potential, future careers, if caught taking, or handling illegal drugs.

Eliza, Year 10 said: “It was interesting and made you realise that you don’t know as much as you think and showed us that schools should be educated about drugs. He also made us recognise the dangers.” 

Rowan, Year 11, added that he also didn’t know a lot of the information and that the lectures were very good. He said: “His teaching style was easy to understand.”

Following the evening lecture, parents also commented on how extremely informative the lectures were. Comments included: “Brilliant…the part about the law and possession of drugs was excellent…we need to find a way of counteracting the causes…invaluable.”

With over 28 years of Royal Naval Service, Mr Tait worked as an RN Policeman dealing with drug-related issues, including undercover work in Drugs Intelligence. Since 2004 he has worked with young drug users, young offenders and school pupils, giving powerful and well-informed presentations.  He explained how everyone should be made aware of some vital information concerning drugs charges, not only in terms of health risks, but also the potential for passports to be confiscated; drugs testing on specific university courses and careers that are banned following a drugs conviction.