Research Highlights: Helping Adolescents Resist Drugs

摘要

Project ALERT departs boldly from prevention models of the 196Os and 197Os, which emphasized informing adolescents about the long-term consequences of drug use or building their decisionmaking skills. Instead, Project ALERT is based on the theory that adolescents turn to drugs because of perceived social norms, because media images and the influence of peers make drug use appear attractive, and because, being kids, they want to appear mature and independent. To combat these powerful forces, the Project ALERT curriculum seeks to modify norms about drug use, give students reasons not to use, and help them identify and resist pro-drug pressures-both internal and external. To build resistance skills, it equips them with a repertoire of strategies and builds their confidence in using them. To build motivation not to use drugs, the curriculum helps students to understand that most teenagers do not use drugs and to recognize the multiple ways in which drugs affect students now-socially, emotionally, and physically. The original ALERT curriculum consists of eight lessons in seventh grade and three booster lessons in eighth grade. The lessons are designed to help students connect what they learn to their daily lives: They involve students actively, demonstrate how to use new skills, and provide plenty of practice.