[Report] "Transforming into Child Monitors... Experiencing the Dangers of Drugs"

Kidzania Opens Narcotics Monitoring Center
Content Developed in Collaboration with MFDS
Pharmacy Inspections Conducted to Assess Narcotics Management Status

"Medicines Safely! Citizens at Ease!"

On the 14th, at KidZania, a children's job experience theme park in Songpa-gu, Seoul, seven children dressed in the Food and Drug Safety Ministry uniforms stopped in front of the 'KidZania Pharmacy,' built to closely resemble a real pharmacy. Holding silver-gray briefcases in one hand, the children loudly shouted a slogan before entering the pharmacy. That day, they transformed into child narcotics monitors managing and inspecting narcotic raw materials. They planned to conduct an on-site inspection of the management status of medical narcotics at the pharmacy.

On the 14th, children are boarding a truck with the logo of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety at KidZania, a children's job experience theme park in Songpa-gu, Seoul.
[Photo by Lee Ji-eun]

Amid the recent surge in drug crimes, attention is drawn to the opening of a drug-related education experience center at the children's theme park. This center was created through collaboration between KidZania and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, focusing on drug misuse prevention education tailored to children's perspectives.

The content is not a simple lecture but mainly experience-based. The children are appointed as narcotics monitors affiliated with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and tasked with inspecting the management status of medical narcotics at the pharmacy. One of the actual duties of narcotics monitors has been restructured into child-friendly content.

Before inspecting the pharmacy, the children received initial training at the 'Narcotics Monitoring Center' established within the theme park. The training mainly covered that narcotics are classified into three categories: narcotics, psychotropic drugs, and cannabis, as well as side effects caused by drug misuse. It was also mentioned that prescription and dispensing records from hospitals and pharmacies are entered and managed in the integrated narcotics management system.

On the 14th, Byeongseon Lee, a visor, is conducting drug abuse education at the Drug Monitoring Center inside KidZania, a kids' job experience theme park in Songpa-gu, Seoul.
[Photo by Jieun Lee]

The education was conducted at a difficulty level understandable even by children aged four. Lee Byung-seon, a visor from KidZania in charge of the program, repeatedly emphasized regarding drugs like phentermine, which are misused recently for dieting, "You should never take such drugs recklessly without a doctor's or pharmacist's permission, even if you think you can lose weight without exercising."

After completing the training, the children moved to the KidZania pharmacy riding a truck marked with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety emblem. When the safe inside the pharmacy was opened, pill bottles labeled with names of narcotic analgesics such as 'Tapentadol Hydrochloride' appeared one after another. The children took out the 'Medical Narcotics On-site Investigation Confirmation Form' that had been in their briefcases. This was to check whether the actual medicines stored in the pharmacy matched the records on the documents.

On the 14th, children are inspecting the management status of medical narcotics at the 'KidZania Pharmacy' within the Children's Job Experience Theme Park in Songpa-gu, Seoul.
[Photo by Lee Ji-eun]

After confirming that the numbers on the documents matched the number of pills, the children, acting as daily monitors, inscribed their names on the documents. They also did not forget to hang a signboard reading 'Safe Medicine Space' in front of the KidZania pharmacy.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety expects this program to help children internalize the dangers of narcotics. A ministry official said, "We designed the education so that children can understand the risks of misuse of narcotic medicines and the roles and functions of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety," adding, "We plan to continuously develop an educational system that allows everyone from children to adults to naturally learn about the risks of narcotics misuse and addiction."