I respond to margarita publicly in case any of the resources I suggest may
be of interest to others.
Margarita - You ask a wonderful question. While I do not have 'the" answer,
I have some resources to suggest that you may find of use. I will offer a
few thoughts on "general" issues related to prevention for you to consider
and then several web sites you can review. These web sites will have
various information and materials to look through as well as resources to
consider. I English is your second language, I apologize in advance for the
idioms and other "jargon" that I inadvertently use in this note.
Conceptual Issues
Historically, alcohol and other drug (AOD) prevention programs have been
driven by the belief that if "average" people are just provided with the
facts, they will be able to see the negative aspect of AOD abuse and decide
to not use/abuse these substances. There is a long history of such
approaches being employed in K-12 as well has higher education.
Unfortunately, there is apparently not a strong correlation between such
programs and measurable changes in student behaviors. NOTE: There does seem
to be some evidence that suggests that such programs seem to imprint
students in K-4 or 5 with "anti-drug" messages that they repeat when asked
about drugs, but when students, including these enter middle/secondary
school and on into higher education, experimentation with psychoactive
substances continues to be an issue of concern.
It would seem that the normal developmental issues of adolescence , e.g.,
"rebelling against authority, identification with peers, forging a sense of
identity as a unique individual, etc.," take precedence over the "just say
no" messages presented to students during their earlier educational
experiences. Consequently, awareness programs in and of themselves do not
seem to be the "magic bullet" or sole solution to this difficult problem.
This being said, I DO NOT recommend avoiding or eliminating such programs,
simply realizing that they are not the entire answer. NOTE: Change theory,
which suggests individuals change their behaviors in stages, suggest that
at the earliest stages of change, awareness, consciousness raising, and
self-awareness activities can be very influential in moving individuals
along the continuum of change.
What has been learned in higher education is that a three pronged approach
to confronting AOD abuse appears to hold great promise. The three "prongs"
or parts of a comprehensive AOD prevention program are 1)
information/awareness, 2) correcting "misperceptions" of social norms, that
is, correcting what individual students believe is normal behavior for
their peers, and 3) employing comprehensive and consistently enforced
environmental strategies designed to "act on" instead of "react to" AOD use
and abuse. I will include links below to explore each of these approaches.
I would suggest that you and your colleagues explore assessing the
situation in your school, accept the fact that starting small and expanding
with success is preferable to trying to change too fast, and recognize that
an effective program is likely to be a somewhat involved program that
employs various strategies. You will likely fact your first big challenge
in the form of the administrators of your school who either do not have the
resources to support your efforts and/or have concerns about some of the
approaches that seem to work as they are not "anti-drug" enough (the "Harm
Reduction" approach to prevention - see my web page in the signature file
below for more on this).
Lastly, I would add that the comments I make and the resources I suggest
are admittedly designed to address "American" issues. Some of these are
culturally sensitive, others can be easily "sensitized." Still, these
suggestions to AOD prevention are born primarily of the dominant culture in
the US. I suggest that you feel free to work with them in such a way so
that they will be useful for the population you target in your school. Not
being expert in working with middle school children in Columbia, or
administrators for that matter, these comments may or may not be of use to
you.
Resources Online - General
http://www.drugs.indiana.edu/resources/other_resources.html -> brochures,
essays, program ideas, & general AODinfo
http://www.health.org/features/kidsarea/ -> general information (Spanish
version available). Be sure to check other links at bottom of this page.
Specific Online resources
http://www.hws.edu/alcohol -> social norming
http://www.mostofus.org/ -> social norms programs
http://www.promprac.gmu.edu/ -> resource directory on various "promising
practices" in higher education prevention programs. Many can be adapted to
middle school and secondary education
In closing, I strongly recommend that you visit the Higher Education
Center's web page ( http://www.edc.org/hec ) as it has many ideas,
resources, and information on AOD prevention. While specifically targeting
higher education, much of this information can be adapted to middle and/or
high school.
I trust this note and these few resources will be of some use in your
efforts.
best regards,
Robert
Robert J. Chapman, Ph.D.
Coordinator, AOD Programs
Associate Faculty, Clinical/Counseling Psychology
La Salle University Counseling Center
1900 W. Olney Ave.
Philadelphia, PA 19141-1199
Phone: 215-951-1355 Fax: 215-951-1451
mailto:chapman@lasalle.edu
home page http://www.lasalle.edu/~chapman/home.htm
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