Drug Abuse Prevention in Schools

1
Drug Abuse Prevention in Schools

• Kymberli A. Wregglesworth

CEP 841 Dr. Mariage
Michigan State University
2
The Problem

• In schools across the country, including our own,
  drug abuse is a serious problem. It is an issue
  we need to address and continue fighting in order
  to ensure the success of our students.
• Even though many teachers think substance abuse
  prevention is a legitimate concern of the
  schools, most see it to be peripheral to their
  own teaching responsibilities. (Weinstein,
  1999, p. 6)

3
Past Month Illicit Drug Use Among Youths Aged 12
and 13 1999 and 2000
Source Summary of Findings from the 2000
National Household Survey on Drug Abuse
4
Past Month Illicit Drug Use Among Youths Aged 14
and 15 1999 and 2000
Source Summary of Findings from the 2000
National Household Survey on Drug Abuse
5
Past Month Illicit Drug Use Among Youths Aged 16
and 17 1999 and 2000
Source Summary of Findings from the 2000
National Household Survey on Drug Abuse
6
Definition of the Problem

• How do teachers go about teaching substance abuse
  prevention in the classroom?
• Should they have to teach prevention, or should
  they just teach about drug abuse?

7
Definition of the Problem, contd

• The troublesome questions have always been Do
  teachers accede to moralistic demands and
  political mandates to serve the cause of
  abstinence and prohibition? Or, do teachers
  challenge these demands and mandates by adhering
  to cherished educational and democratic values?
  These values advocate personal freedom and
  choice, moderation, reason, and temperance.
  (Weinstein, 1999, p. 62)

8
Availability of Drugs

• Alcohol is easy to get 73.1 of 8th graders
  agree 88 of 10th graders agree.
• Marijuana is easy to get 50.6 of 8th graders
  agree 77.9 of 10th graders agree 90.4 of 12th
  graders agree.

Source Adolescent Relationships, 2000, p. 4
9
The Program

• Drug Resistance Strategies Project (DRSP)
• The findings from the DRSP support the efficacy
  of peer modeling of drug resistance situations to
  transfer identification and learning to behavior
  change. (Adolescent Relationships, 2000, p. 98).

10
Why DRSP works better than other drug resistance
programs

• Students often know more than their teachers
  about drugs and drug use in the community. By
  attempting to externally impose the truth about
  drugs, rather than discovering those experiences
  within the social milieu or the daily practices
  of the student, prevention programs may be
  perceived by students as lacking authenticity.
  (Adolescent Relationships, 2000, p. 91)
• Most drug and alcohol experimentation, use,
  abuse, and addiction by young people is conducted
  in the company of like-minded friends.
  (Pickhardt, 2000, p. 81)
• Friends exert more influence over drug use than
  any other category of relationship. (Adolescent
  Relationships, 2000, p. 50)

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Step 1 Obtain Permission and Gather Support

• Contact the schools administration and families
  in the community for assistance.
• Interview students in the community about their
  experiences with drugs. Be sure to assure their
  confidentiality, establish a rapport, focus on
  recent events and ask general questions.

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Step 2 Scripting

• Target the script to the audience you will be
  working with.
• Allow students to critique the script for reality
  and appropriateness.

• If students have a chance to design their own
  messages, with no sanctions from parents or
  institutions, this message will have an inherent
  strength to prompt attitude modification and
  compliance with the message. (Adolescent
  Relationships, 2000, p. 151).

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Step 3 Implementation

• Cast actors that will be believable in the
  roleswithin the peer group if possible.
• Use music, direct addressing of the audience and
  multi-media as much as possible

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Step 4 Discussion

• Use a trained facilitator to keep the discussion
  on track
• Have a list of prepared questions in case
  students are not ready to ask their own questions
  right away.

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Step 5 Assessment

• The production should have goals. Possible goals
  include
• Reducing or ending the use of drugs in the
  audience
• Pushing back the age of initiation
• Bettering the understanding of the effects of
  drug use and abuse

Steps taken from Adolescent Relationships, 2000,
pp. 149-158.
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Alternatives to direct refusal

• Make a temporary exit
• Excuse me, I have to use the restroom.
• Hey, theres ___. I havent talked to him/her
  in a long time.
• Play for delay
• No thanks, not right now.
• Maybe later.

• Make an excuse
• I dont feel well.
• I had a bad trip before.
• If I dont get home right away, Ill be
  grounded.
• My parents drug test me and if I show up
  positive, Ill lose my car.

Source Pickhardt, 1999, pp. 83-84.
17
Conclusions

• Drug abuse among teens is a real problem and a
  serious problem, but there are excellent
  solutions available.
• Although parents and teachers are important in
  teaching drug abuse resistance, the most valuable
  resource are other teens.
• Peer pressure works both ways if a teen has a
  positive peer support group, drug abuse will most
  likely not result.

18
Works Cited

• Adolescent Relationships and Drug Use. (2000).
  Mahwah, N.J. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
• Pickhardt, C. E. (1999). Keys to Raising a
  Drug-free Child. Hauppauge, NY Barrons.
• The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
  Administration (SAMHSA) (2000). Summary of
  Findings from the 2000 National Household Survey
  on Drug Abuse. WWW Document. URL
  http//www.health.org/ govstudy/bkd405/chapter2.ht
  m
• Weinstein, S. (1999). The Educators Guide to
  Substance Abuse Prevention. Mahwah, N.J.
  Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

19
Additional ResourcesJournal Articles

• Ennett, S., Tobler, N., Ringwaldt, C.,
  Flewelling, R. (1994, September). How effective
  is drug abuse resistance education? A
  meta-analysis of Project DARE outcome
  evaluations. American Journal of Public Health,
  1394-1406.
• Hanson, D. (1982, February). The Effectiveness of
  alcohol and drug education. Journal of Alcohol
  and Drug Education, 4.
• Mathews, W. (1975, January). A critique of
  traditional drug education programs. Journal of
  Drug Education, 57-64.
• Sutherland, I. Shepherd, J. P. (2001, March).
  Social dimensions of adolescent substance abuse.
  Addiction, 445-458.

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Additional Resources-National Groups

• Safe and Drug-Free Schools program-United States
  Department of Education
• 400 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20202
  (800) USA-LEARN http//www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/SDF
  S
• National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
• 6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 5213, Bethesda, MD
  20892 [phone]
  http//www.nida.nih.gov
• The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
  Administration (SAMHSA)
• 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857 (301)
  443-0365
• http//www.samhsa.gov

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Additional ResourcesWeb Sites

• American Council for Drug Education
• http//www.acde.org
• The Official D.A.R.E. Website
• http//dare/
• SAMHSA Model Programs
• http//www.modelprograms.samhsa.gov