DON’T DO IT!

WHEN DRUG PREVENTION

TURNS INTO DRUG PROMOTION

This training will challenge you… This mini-training is going to cover research that will force us to reconsider some of our ideas about the types of prevention strategies that actually work.

If it helps just one… People are drawn to prevent substance abuse for a variety of reasons. For many of us, the reasons are deeply personal. Others are called to respond without fully understanding why. Whatever your reason, its very, very important to understand that not all “prevention” is created equal. Without tempering our heart knowledge - our strong desire to help - with our head knowledge – an understanding of what works and what doesn’t - we risk squandering resources or even hurting those we intend to help. The rationale of, “If it helps just one…” fails if our actions harm 30 others in the process.

Health terrorism, scare tactics or scary images You may think these worked on you when you were younger, but really you may have been born with a natural “resilience” to avoiding drugs. Kids who are truly at-risk won’t connect their current behavior to those “future” images. In fact, they may actually rebel against your message and start using drugs in order to prove you wrong.

Testimony from former drug addicts Even if their story is powerful, testimony “normalizes” drug use by sending the message that “everybody uses.” More than that, youth see the attention this person is getting, plus the fact that this person was able to stop using, and it causes the message to backfire.

Reinforcing incorrect or exaggerated social norms Many well-intended communities and agencies try to create a community-wide response to youth substance abuse by sensationalizing information about high rates of use. These messages normalize the perception that everybody uses and undermines teen responses to pressure to use.

Drug Fact Sheets Fact sheets are ineffective at best and there is significant data to suggest that this information increases experimentation. In the hands of middle-schoolers, fact sheets may show how to defy adults and enhance peer reputation for engaging in risky behaviors.

Myth Busting

Focusing on drug benefits and dangers Showing the benefits of drug use, even when paired with consequences, promotes drug use among youth. The idea that there is an easy way to forget pain, lose weight, cope with anxiety and fit-in may entice teens to experiment. Portraying youth as users Its never okay to portray youth as drug users. Many well intended but counterproductive programs portray youth as users through role play. Its good to role play the use of new skills, but not to break down inhibitions to drug use by casting students as a drug dealer or user.

One-time assemblies or motivational speakers Assemblies and motivational speakers are great for adults, but are wholly ineffective for youth. At best, youth will relate to the emotion of an assembly for a short time, but it will not change their behavior or intentions.

When prevention turns to promotion.

Moralistic appeals (Um’kay?) Although we’d like to believe our teens share all of our family values, they are developing their own set of core values as they mature. Appealing to morality as your child is finding their own path to adulthood may have the opposite effect of what you desire.

Grouping at-risk youth together It might seem like a great idea to have a class just for the most at-risk youth you have influence over, but research shows grouping at-risk youth together reinforces at-risk behaviors.

Just Do It! When prevention works.

Prevention works when we…

• Use established evidence-based programs and strategies • Consider principles of effective prevention • Focus on healthy alternatives • Enhance connections or bonding with prosocial adults, peers and

institutions • Use interactive approaches that include skill practice • Focus on normative education, which portrays true use rates and

corrects misperceptions

Our time and energy is best used to teach positive, healthy behavior, rather than fruitlessly trying to stop dangerous behavior through manipulation or strategies that contradict research.

Counterproductive Prevention Strategies Bibliography

Anderson, P., Aromaa, S., & Rosenbloom, D. (2007). .Prevention education in America’s Schools: Findings and recommendations from a survey of educators. Boston: Join Together. From - http://www.jointogether.org/keyissues/education/download.html Ashton, Mike. (1999). The danger of warnings. Drugandalcoholfindings, l,22-24. From -www.drugandalcoholfindings.org.uk Asper, K. (2006). Scared straight? Why to avoid scare tactics. Prevention Forum, Summer 2006, 18-19. From - http://www.prevention.org/ForumMagazine/Archive.asp Boomerang ads. (2005). Drug and Alcohol Findings, 14, 22-24. From - www.findings.org.uk/docs/boomerang.pdf Center for Substance Abuse Prevention. (n.d.). How to make prevention more powerful. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. From - www.captus.org/Westem/resources/prevmat/youth.pdf

Counterproductive Prevention Strategies Bibliography

Drug Strategies. (1999). Making the grade: A guide to school drug prevention programs. Washington, DC: Drug Strategies. De Haes, W., & Schuurman, J. (1975). Results of an evaluation study of three drug education methods. International Journal of Health Education2, 8(4), Supplement, 1-16. De Haes, W. (1987). Looking for effective drug education programmes: Fifteen years' exploration of the effects of different drug education programmes. Health Education Research, 2(4), 433-438. Dishion, T. J., McCord, J., & Poulin, F. (1999). When interventions harm: Peer groups and problem behavior. American Psychologist, 54(9), 755-764. National Institutes of Health. (2004, October). NIH State-of-the-Science Conference statement on preventing violence and related health-risking sacial behaviors in adolescents. [NIH Consensus and State-of-the-Science Statements, V2, No. 21. Bethesda, MD: National Institutes of Health. From http://consensus.nih.gov

Counterproductive Prevention Strategies Bibliography

Petrosino, Turpin-Petrosino and Finckenauer (2000). Well-Meaning Programs Can Have Harmful Effects! Lessons from Experiments of Programs Such as Scared Straight. Shaw, Carolyn M. (2010). Designing and Using Simulations and Role-Play Exercises. International Studies Encyclopedia, indexed online at: http://webs.wichita.edu/depttools/depttoolsmemberfiles/carolynshaw/Shaw%20in%20Compendium.pdf Tobler, N. S. (1986). Meta-analysis of 143 adolescent drug prevention programs: Quantitative outcome results of program participants compared to a control or comparison group. Journal of Drug Issues, 16(4), 535-567. Williams, J. S. (2003). Grouping high risk youths for prevention may harm more than help. NIDA Notes, 17(5).