A Coquitlam educator has received approval to teach high school students a course on understanding addiction.
But Leah Pells says what she hopes students learn during the four-credit course is not just the physiology of addiction but how to be more compassionate towards those suffering from it.
"These people aren't making a choice about being addicted," said Pells, "Some of them have been traumatized. They need support and care."
Pells knows whereof she speaks. In 2004, her mother died of conditions related to alcohol addiction and Pells more recently wrote a book, Not About the Medal, about her tumultuous upbringing and how she was inspired to become an Olympic runner.
She now tells students that her mother was an inspiration because she passed on to her daughter the desire to be compassionate and tolerant, and Pells hopes some of this understanding and awareness comes through in the course.
"For me, it's an obligation to help and care for others. That's what we should all be doing."
The course was one of four approved by the School District 43 board of education Tuesday. In addition to Understanding Addiction 12, trustees also approved:
Women's Studies 12, studying the lives of women in work, the arts and other cultures;
Sport Science 12, a study of sports science and the human body to prepare students for kinesiology studies;
and French Immersion Sociology 12.
Pells said she was pleased the board approved her program, which was developed using research from her masters in counselling studies at UBC. Any teacher can use it for any class of Grade 12 students but it was developed with CABE (Coquitlam Alternate Basic Education) students in mind.
It took a year to develop and will cover topics such as the roots of addiction as well as treatment and recovery for addiction. Some of the things students will learn is the difference between an addicted brain and a non-addicted brain, different models of addiction and how addiction affects both personal lives and society.
Arguing that the so-called "War on Drugs" hasn't been successful, but has in fact marginalized people who are already hurting, Pells said that shedding light on the issue and making more people aware of it is among her goals for teaching Understanding Addiction to high school students.
"If we could create way more compassion, that's a good place to start," she said.
WHO IS LEAH PELLS?
Pells is a three-time Olympic middle-distance runner who missed a bronze medal in the 1996 Summer Olympics by a half second. She was inducted in the Coquitlam Sports Hall of Fame in 2011. Her book Not About the Medal is available online. For more information, visit www.leahpells.com.
