Standard of Learning

6.1The student will apply critical thinking skills and personal management strategies to address issues and concerns related to personal health and wellness. Key concepts/skills include:

1. the importance of significant friends or adult mentors;
2. the relationship between self-image and gang-related behaviors;
3. the effects of environmental influences on personal health;
4. refusal strategies related to alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs;
5. prevention of communicable and noncommunicable diseases.

<< Back to Index

Understanding the Standard

The student will understand the benefits of using refusal strategies and assertive behavior when dealing with situations involving alcohol, tobacco and other drugs.

Essential Knowledge and Skills

The student will:

• define refusal skills.
• identify the benefits of staying tobacco, alcohol and drug-free.
• determine ways of saying no.
• define assertive behavior.
• describe effective assertive behaviors when saying NO:
  • have a determined tone of voice;
  • maintain eye contact; and
  • have a committed facial expression.

Sample Lessons

Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE)
Grades: 6-8
Substance abuse prevention program for youth. Teaches youth how to resist peer pressure and live drug and violence-free lives.
Contact: http://www.dare.com

HeartPower!
Grades: 6-8
Teaches student about the heart and how to keep it healthy. Science-based. Lessons, handouts.
• How Can You Help Others Stay Tobacco Free?
• Why is Second Hand Smoke Dangerous?
Sponsor: American Heart Association
Contact: http://www.americanheart.org(select HeartPower!)
Free

LifeSkills Training
Grades: 6-8
Model substance abuse prevention and competency enhancement program focusing on the major social and psychological factors causing substance use and abuse. Teaches drug resistance skills, personal management skills, and general social skills. Includes self-image, self-improvement, decision-making, anger management, assertiveness, communication, media, and conflict resolution issues.
Contact: http://www.lifeskillstraining.com
Cost

Lions-Quest Skills for Adolescence
Grades 6-8
Positive youth development program focusing on social and emotional competencies; good citizenship skills; strong, positive character; drug-free lifestyle; and service to others.
Sponsor: Lions Quest
Contact: http://www.lions-quest.org
Cost

Project ALERT
Grades 6-8
Model drug prevention curricula that reduces both the onset and regular use of substances. Two-year, 14 lesson program focusing on alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and inhalant avoidance.
Sponsor: Project ALERT
Contact: http://www.projectalert.com
Cost

Project Towards No Tobacco Use (TNT)
Grades 5-10
Model program to prevent or reduce tobacco use in youth. Ten core and 2 booster lessons. Includes effective refusal and coping skills; effects of media and advertisers; methods to build self-esteem; and strategies for advocating no tobacco use.
Sponsor: Department of Preventive Medicine, USC
Contact: http://www.etr.org
Cost

Promoting Alternative THinking Strategies (PATHS)
Grades K-6
Model program to promote emotional & social competencies and reduce aggression and acting out. Includes emotional literacy, self-control, social competence, positive peer relations, and interpersonal problem-solving skills.
Sponsor: Pennsylvania State University and Channing Bete Company
Contact: http://www.preventionscience.com
Cost

Substance Abuse Influences
Grades: 4-6
There is no other area in the schools today that commands more public attention than that of substance use and abuse. This particular activity shows that substance abuse education is more effective if it focuses on processes of decision making rather than problems.
Sponsor: Ask Eric
Contact: http://www.eduref.org (select lesson plans – health – substance abuse prevention)
Free

Additional Instructional Resources

• Abuse & Addiction – http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/ (health & fitness 6-8)
• ACDE Drug Prevention Lesson Plans – http://www.acde.org/educate/Lessons.htm
• Al-Anon/Alateen – http://www.al-anon.org
• Alcohol - http://www.sayno.com/alcohol.html
• Alcohol Cost Calculator for Kids – http://www.alcoholcostcalculator.org/kids
• American Council for Drug Education – http://www.acde.org
• American Lung Association - http://www.lungusa.org/tobacco/secondhand.html
• TheAnti-Drug.Com – http://www.theantidrug.com
• Center for Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws – http://www.udetc.org
• The Cool Spot – http://www.thecoolspot.gov
• DEA State Fact Sheets – http://www.dea.gov/pubs/state_factsheets.html
• Drug and Violence Prevention - http://dave.esc4.net
• A Family Guide to Keeping Youth Mentally Healthy and Drug Free, SAMSA – http://family.samhsa.gov
• Federal Drug Data Sources – http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/drugfact/sources.html
• Food and Drug Administration - http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/kids/default.htm
• Global Youth Network - http://www.unodc.org/youthnet
• Inhalant Abuse – http://www.inhalant.org
• K-6 Life Skills Learning Objectives – http://www.lifeskills4kids.com/learning_objectives.htm
• Life Skills Programs
• Monitoring the Future – http://www.monitoringthefuture.org
• Mothers Against Drunk Driving – http://www.maddva.org or http://www.madd.org
• National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information – http://ncadi.samhsa.gov/
• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration – http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov
• National Inhalant Prevention Coalition – http://www.inhalants.org
• National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism – http://www.niaaa.nih.gov
• National Institute on Drug Abuse – http://www.nida.nih.gov or http://www.drugabuse.gov
• National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign – http://www.mediacampaign.org
• Parenting is Prevention – http://www.parentingisprevention.org
• Partners for Substance Abuse Prevention – http://www.samhsa.gov/preventionpartners
• Partnership for a Drug-Free America – http://www.drugfreeamerica.org
• Resource Officers
• SAMSA Model [Drug Prevention] Programs – http://modelprograms.samhsa.gov
• Straight Scoop News Bureau – http://www.straightscoop.org
• Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) – http://www.saddonline.com
• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) – http://www.samhsa.gov
• U.S. Department of Education, Safe & Drug-Free Schools Program – http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/SDFS/
• U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Criminal Justice Reference Service – http://www.ncjrs.org
• U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention – http://www.ojjdp.ncjrs.org
• Variety of Health Textbooks and Materials Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, Education Section – http://www.abc.state.va.us
• Virginia Department of Education, Safe & Drug-Free Schools Program – http://www.safeanddrugfreeva.org
• Virginia Department of State Police – http://www.vsp.state.va.us
• Virginia Tobacco Settlement Foundation – http://www.vtsf.org

Assessment Ideas

The student will:

• role-play refusal strategies and assertive behavior
• write a success story about someone who steers clear of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs.

TOP...