Anti-drug academy marks fifth year with peer leadership
Bastillepost · 3 SOURCESabout 1 hour ago2 MIN
Summary
Hong Kong’s Anti-Drug Leadership Academy, founded by the Narcotics Bureau of the Police Force, has reached its fifth year after training 100 secondary and university students in each annual cohort since 2021. Organisers say the programme was designed to move beyond one-way anti-drug messaging by using experiential learning in the countryside, at sea and inside drug rehabilitation centres, while alumni say the training also built practical leadership skills.
Key Points
- Senior Inspector Leung Wing-yee, who helped build the programme from scratch, said peer-to-peer messaging carries far greater credibility and reach among young people than adults simply telling them to stay away from drugs.
- The academy selects 100 young people across Hong Kong each year from secondary schools and universities, and provides structured training with advisers and mentors from different professional fields
- Leung said visits to rehabilitation centres became the most powerful “life education” lesson, as students heard how drug use led some people to steal family savings and repeatedly fail to quit.
- First-cohort participant Tam Lok-yi recalled leading an all-female team in a raft-building challenge against headwinds at sea, saying nobody gave up despite the difficulty.
- Tam, now a probationary inspector and commander of a uniform patrol squad, said the academy taught her to identify teammates’ strengths and help each person excel in different roles.
Why It Matters
The programme shows how Hong Kong’s anti-drug education efforts are being tied more closely to youth leadership and peer influence, rather than relying only on classroom-style warnings. Its organisers hope graduates will carry those messages into schools, campuses and future public-service roles, widening the impact beyond the original 100 participants in each cohort.