Drug addiction, alcoholism, malnutrition, lung cancer, venereal disease, and emphysema represent not medical failures but educational failures, since people suffering from them are either beyond help or already seriously damaged by the time they see a physician. School programs are students must begin early. Moreover, for health education to be effective, it must be given a high priority in the school and public health sphere in terms of curriculum time, budget, methodology, community involvement and teacher selection and training. In addition to preservice and in-service teacher programs, which are being intensified to meet the demand, there is a need for each school district to provide leadership in its total health education program. A member of the faculty with approved preparation should be designated as health coordinator so that the entire faculty may cooperate in realizing the potential values of the school program. The New York Education Department is initiating a training program for health coordinators this summer (1971). Drug education is one of the monumental tasks that lie ahead, and programs will be successful to the extent that individual youths can make intelligent decisions with respect to the health problems confronting them. It is the task of health educators to ensure that this and future generations of young people are enabled to live a life that is creative, humane, and sensitive to the fullest extent. (JA)