"Keeping Kids off Drugs"

Keeping Kids off Drugs: Do Current Programs Really Work?

The Wall Street Journal asked an interesting rhetorical question the other day: "If $1 billion in Television advertising can't keep kids off drugs, then what can?"

That's one question educators are asking after a survey revealed that one of the most prominent antidrug campaign being used in the United States has been largely ineffective. Despite five years of huge spending on flashy antidrug ads with numerous celebrities like the Dixie Chicks and Mary J. Blige, teenage drug use remains surprisingly high. Today, 54% of kids have tried an illegal drug before they leave high school, up from a low of 41% in 1992 and about the same as the pot-smoking heyday of 1975.

The statistics show just how far off course the country's anti-drug efforts have gone. The grim reality: Most of what educators now say and think about drug prevention is wrong. But it doesn't have to be that way. A growing body of research is beginning to identify some basic principles proven to keep kids off drugs.

The National Cross-Site Evaluation of High-Risk Youth Demonstration Program, a five-year nationwide study funded by the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), examined the effectiveness of federally funded substance abuse prevention programs for high-risk youth. Careful study of "what works" reveals that the best antidrug efforts seem to spend surprisingly little time talking about drugs. Instead, they focus on helping kids cope with the demands and stress of daily life. In the LifeSkills Training course, a drug-prevention program used in about 7,500 classrooms in the United States, only about a fourth of the sessions focus directly on drug use. One study found that LifeSkills, a rigorously tested curriculum developed by Cornell University, reduced teen use of cigarettes, alcohol and marijuana by 66%.

Here are some steps that prevention researchers say can keep kids from using drugs:

Teach real-world coping skills:

Drug prevention can start by building a student's confidence for a job interview or teaching him or her how to rebuff a schoolmate who wants to copy homework. Helping kids to cope with the anxiety they feel before a track meet or exam may have dramatic results.

The problem is that many teachers don't believe simple measures can really translate into saying NO to drugs. But Gilbert J. Botvin, a public-health professor at Cornell University's Weill Medical College and the creator of LifeSkills, says the program works by increasing a child's overall confidence. Doing so decreases "the likelihood they will be negatively influenced by the media or their friends to smoke, drink or use drugs."

Although the most successful school programs don't harp extensively on the dangers of drug use, that doesn't mean parents should avoid the subject at home. On the contrary, parents remain one of the strongest moral influences on kids, and they need to send a clear antidrug message. Many studies show that parental ambivalence increases a child's risk for drug use.

There are a number of tips available to help parents set guidelines that will make a lot more sense to their teenagers than telling them to "just say no." We have reprinted an article delineating tips recommended by Dr. Botvin.

Focus on one drug at a time:

While it appears the broad antidrug campaign hasn't worked, there is good evidence that increased media attention to harmful effects of specific drugs can make a difference. For instance, a 1995 ad campaign about abuse of inhalants, such as paint thinners and glue, precipitated a drastic drop in use these substances. Likewise, in 1986, cocaine use fell after extensive news reports on the death of Len Bias, a college-basketball star who died after using cocaine.

Those examples illustrate the "life cycle" of a drug. Word of a drug's positive attributes spreads rapidly, but there is always a lag time before kids learn about the dangers of the substance. Once the risks become apparent, occasional users drop the drug and potential new users don't try it. Recognizing this, educators can make a difference if they pay attention to the life cycle of a newly popular drug and work to quickly spread the word about harmful effects.

Don't lecture:

One of the criticisms of the failed ad campaign is that the commercials prominently displayed the logo of the Unites States Office of National Drug Control Policy. "I'm worried putting that tagline causes kids to dismiss the message they've just consumed because they're not sure they like who is giving it to them," says Lloyd Johnston, program director of the University of Michigan's Monitoring the Future study, which tracks drug use trends.

Lecturing is often cited as the single biggest flaw in perhaps the best-known and most popular antidrug program, D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education), which brings police officers into schools to talk about drugs. Despite its wide use in schools, many claim D.A.R.E has never delivered a measurable impact on teen drug use. But now the program is being revamped to encourage more student interaction. The new D.A.R.E., which is being tested on 35,000 students in 200 schools, gets kids involved in the lesson with some role-playing exercises.

"It has to be highly interactive," says Zili Sloboda, investigator on the D.A.R.E study and senior research associate at the University of Akron Institute for Health and Social Policy. "Children have to be able to try it on in their own lives."

Repeat the message:

There is some evidence that the most successful antidrug classes are those that are presented over the child's complete school career. This simple fact may be one reason why most of the nation's antidrug efforts have failed. For instance, D.A.R.E. is taught in 80% of the country's school districts. But most of the time, it's used only in elementary school. Only 25% of the districts teach it in middle school and about 10% offer high-school programs.

The U.S. Department of Education Web site, has a list of "promising and exemplary" antidrug programs in schools and around the country.

Additional places to help:

A discussion of strategies to help educators prevent drug abuse.

Additional information about school drug prevention programs including organizations that will provide materials, technical assistance, or other support to schools in developing a successful drug prevention strategy.

Discipline Learning Packets from the Advantage Press.

Having the right tools to help students understand "right from wrong" is obviously important. But students make mistakes. As educators, our job is to help those students learn from those mistakes and become better "connected" to their school. Our discipline learning packets serve that role.

These packets are designed to provide constructive, positive learning experiences for students who have violated a school behavior standard. Although the primary purpose of our packets and lessons is to serve as the consequence for an unacceptable behavior, we have de-emphasized the punitive aspect and stressed the positive learning experience that comes from understanding and reflecting on one's actions. We want the student to think about WHY it is wrong to talk back to the teacher, or hit someone, and to understand how others feel when they are the subject of disrespect or have been knocked down by someone running or otherwise being careless.

By emphasizing the feelings and rights of others, we attempt to lead students to a more empathetic and social understanding of the effects of their actions and the fact that this behavior impacts on the whole school community.

You can read more about our philosophy behind the Discipline Learning Packet Program at this website: Advantage Press - Philosophy

Do these Packets really work? We asked that questions to schools using our Learning Packets. The results were most positive! Examine the survey results at our website.