posted
I am having a meeting this week at my house to discuss activities and slogans for our school's Red Ribbon Week. For those of you that don't know, Red Ribbon Week is basically a PTA sponsored DARE like program.
I am disatisfied with how it has been presented to the children in past years in our school district. I have a book from the district that has some excellent stuff in it. But for the elementary school kids, it is mostly cute stuff. Like handouts that say things like "Don't be "daffy" chew "taffy" not drugs!" and you are supposed to attach candy to it (obviously taffy, in that case)
There is the serious information going to the kids through assemblies and the police DARE, but those little handouts just bug me. A lot. These kinds of slogans tend to stick in the human mind better than statistics.
I am trying to come up with better ones that appeal to children, but get a more important message across. Then I thought of Hatrack, and that you might be a good resource. I don't care what you do: think up some slogans or activities etc, share your experiences with your schools anti-drug programs, or just post your thoughts on the subject for brain food.
The focus I've been giving my committe is that "Choices now affect the future"
posted
Sounds corny to me... Maybe a more honest approach would work... I did DARE when I was in Alabama. A cop came and told us not to do drugs just about every week. I've never had the desire to do drugs, and the only time anyone ever asked me was when I was going to an Ani concert. No one forced me to do pot or anything. Even though they are young, perhaps teaching them about the effects of drugs might work. That doing drugs would mean spending any bit of money you get on drugs and then tell them they'll start selling all their stuff and even their pets or something just to get that next high. Maybe you could let them know that there are other things they could do besides drugs that are much more enjoyable and don't cloud their lives... Hmm.. complicated...
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
No. It is one among several other candy themed handouts. I don't want to bash it too much, because I'm sure someone spent a lot of time trying to come up with them. I'm not sure how much the kids even read them. Basically they got one everyday during Red Ribbon Week, and the kids that were wearing their bracelets got put in a drawing to earn some better rewards. Mostly my kids were disappointed because they'd worn their bracelets everyday but didn't get anything 'cool'. And then they ripped the candy off their little handout without hardly reading what it said.
Posts: 438 | Registered: Apr 2004
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That is exactly the approach I want, Synth. We already have a mentor assembly and I understand there will be officers in each class talking about the effects of drugs. My job is the activities and handouts for the week.
quote:That doing drugs would mean spending any bit of money you get on drugs and then tell them they'll start selling all their stuff and even their pets or something just to get that next high.
posted
Hmm... Telling little kids drugs are bad isn't enough... Even kindegarteners will want more detail.
Maybe writing a story would work for the younger grades, a picture book of sorts to illustrate the problem. Then, to get the message to sink in, have them write their own stories and draw their own pictures about drugs. Also, telling them how it's done might help. I'm still revolted by how cocaine is done and heroin. Kids hate needles! Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
Not quite what you're looking for, but I thought it was interesting, so I'll comment on it.
The most recent anti-drug television commercial I've seen shows a teen sitting on her bed. It talks about how drugs make you feel good, but what your brain feels is suffocation. They show this visibly in the commercial by massive waves crashing on her from out of no where. It did a very good job of quickly tranfering from the "drugs may make you feel high" to "drugs may make you die" That particular commercial was targeting huffing (using household aerosols to get high, incase anyone isn't familiar with the term). It did a great job at conveying its point.
Drugs make you do bad things Drugs make you sad (picture of frowny face) Drugs make you feel bad Drugs hurt you
Posts: 5957 | Registered: Oct 2001
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Many anti-drug slogans and programs are rather cheesy, kids can tell. Most kids strive to be treated like they are grown up, and they often think that the programs are treating them like they are little kids. They are little kids but it is better not to tell them that. This was my reaction to my schools programs. Some of the programs dramatis and try to scare the kids into staying clean. They sometimes imply things like, the use of any drug will immediately ruin your life and probably kill you. .Once a teenager figures out that s/he can smoke marijuana and not have their life immediately fall apart, it kind of discredits the messages they got when they were younger.
Posts: 1015 | Registered: Aug 2004
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*was thinking that* Especially since I don't see marijuana as being a bad drug... Now speed, huffing and herion on the other hand... An honest approach is best. *suddenly reminded of South Park* Tell them that yes, drugs do make you feel good when you first start taking them. You feel high, relaxed and euphoric. But, later on, the drugs gradually drain pleasures of every day things like music and hanging out with your friends until all you think about is drugs. Getting more drugs. Doing more drugs. Until it completely takes over your life and energy and gradually your friends and family members begin to take a backseat to drugs and as a result your life falls apart.
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The thing that I have told my children is that drugs will immediately though temporarily inhibit their ability to make judgements so that things they would normally not do, they might do. And then they are responsible for that thing, even if they would never have done it while sober.
Then I go into how drugs can become addictive and so they lose even more control over their lives, and they could lose everything.
Then I tell them about physical side effects, and I try to be realistic. For instance, I've said that many people can responsible drink alcohol. Their father used to. But it is forbidden in our religion. But then there are people in my extended family who have become alcoholics. I want them to get a realistic picture, and understand why they are making their choices.
I also talk about growing up and how they'll want to become more independent, and that this will be a good thing. It is part of growing up. It may not feel like it is coming fast enough for them, but doing drugs just to be with people who say they are friends and to do something your parents told you not to do actually decreases your independence.
I've also told them that they should be kind and compassionate to everyone, but not everyone will be a friend. I've defined a friend as someone who they share common interests with and who has their best interests at heart.
But this is a message that I'm unsure of how to get across with my limited week of activities and slogans. I'm considering writing an article about it to be sent home to the parents with the pledge thing they get.
posted
Education is the single most important factor in reducing the negative effects drugs have on communities. Getting children at the right age is important; they should know what drugs are, and have the ability to absorb the information you are giving them. Lecturing children under 8 may be counterproductive. Lecturing children for the first time at 13 is too late. An appeal to emotion is a good short-term solution, but ultimately unsuccessful. Scaring straight isn't likely to work as kids become teens and become more curious and rebellious; invincibility complexes don't help either.
The solution is to build trust and give concrete reasons why kids should avoid drugs. It is for this reason that you must be very careful not to lie, or even exaggerate. This is why DARE backfires--ceterus paribus, it appears DARE graduates are more likely to have drug problems. DARE has itself admitted this and is looking for a solution; ask me if you want research. Avoid their mistakes. Do not tell kids pot will kill them, or get them hooked on their first toke. In fact, discard the whole notion of getting hooked the first time; the kids who experiment and find this isn't true will often believe that addiction in general was also a lie. Do not equate marijuana with meth, cocaine, heroin or even alcohol and tobacco; give accurate accounts of the relative dangers of various drugs. Do not use most produced anti-drug educational material with older kids; it is poorly produced and many kids will find it silly or disingenuous (God knows I did).
Ok, enough with what not to do. Here are some things you should do:
Make kids question the cost/benefit analysis of using drugs at a young age: maybe temporary pleasure at the cost of the potential of years of misery as an addict. Do not equate trying with addiction, but emphasise that the risk of becomming an addict is strongly correlated with the age at which a person first starts using drugs. Make them question the wisdom of taking such a massive risk. This strategy is effective because it makes them think, and perhaps more importantly, does not insult their inteligence. You underestimate them at their peril.
Another strategy that works well with the first is to bring in a recovering addict or someone who works with them. A first hand source will enhance your credibility and what they say will certainly have the desired emotional impact. This is more powerful than all the propaganda films in the world.
Do not overlook important drugs. Focus especially on alcohol and tobacco. These drugs ruin and exterminate exponentially more lives than all illegal drugs combined. Kids also tend to try these drugs on average much sooner than illegal ones, and they are the two biggest "gateway drugs", although that theory has been mostly discredited (I would advise against using it). Tell kids how the alcohol and tobacco industries target them, because they know that the young'uns get addicted faster and easier, and they need to replace their older patrons, who have a habit of dying. Don't overlook prescription drugs. Remind kids that just because doctors hand them out, doesn't mean they are safe. In fact, tell them that doctors have to hand them out precisely because they are so dangerous, and should only be taken under medical supervision. Give them some details to back this up, ie: sleeping pill withdrawl can kill (not even heroin withdrawl can do this), and OxyContin is little different from heroin.
Finally, don't make drug experimentation a hole with no bottom. By all means, give kids reasons not to experiment, and try your best to prevent it, but this will not stop a large portion of your students from doing just that. The fact is, ultimately what they put in them is their decision, so make turning off the road to addiction a possibility. Tell them that even if they have tried drugs, and are feeling uneasy about it, or are scared it is becoming a problem, that they can seek help from their school, parents or doctor without fear of being judged as evil or beyond redemption. Make sure parents understand this too, that they should never be visibly angry if they discover their kid has used or is using drugs. Make sure they approach the situation with compassion, concern and respect. To do otherwise can drive their child away, and put him or her in even more danger.
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Well, that's my blurb. Feel free to ask questions. While I may be opposed to prohibition, I will commend anyone seeking to make a difference through education. Amka, you are actively involved and seeking answers; if everyone was like you, drugs would hardly be a problem. Posts: 1769 | Registered: Feb 2000
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posted
Oh, I know I left out alot. I figured I would make a list of common mistakes and omissions. Of course you should mention things like impaired judgement and other consequences of the use of certain drugs. Of course you should talk about impaired driving, and the cost it invokes.
Posts: 1769 | Registered: Feb 2000
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quote: they are the two biggest "gateway drugs", although that theory has been mostly discre
I think for the user, the "gateway theory" may not be so valid. But if you are a pot dealer, you are going to search out kids who are smoking. If you are a cocaine dealer, your best prospects are going to be underage drinkers. So it seems to me the gateway effect is real.
I don't know if K-6 is the time to push the experimentation safety net. It's more a time to emphasize that "users are losers." (Cheesy, but true and it sticks.) "Losers" isn't just a derogatory term. It's expresses that you can lose your job, your home, and your relationships if you use drugs. At least that's what I've seen with people I've known.
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Pooka, I didn't suggest that aspect for kindergardeners. I do think it would be a good idea starting with 6th graders though, as they are about at the age when those at greatest risk will start experimenting, especially with tobacco and alcohol. Also, it is never to early to start educating parents, which is also very important and very often overlooked. Giving them "warning signs" or telling them to talk to their kids about drugs is couterproductive when they may be just as uninformed as their kids.
Posts: 1769 | Registered: Feb 2000
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quote:I propose we show Requiem for a Dream to all third-graders.
All who have seen the movie will, I am sure, agree with me that this would be an effective strategy.
I suppose if your only end goal is to keep kids from doing drugs, that may be the most effective strategy ever proposed. Other consequences could mitigate it's percieved effectivness however...
Thank you so much for the great info. Gave me a lot I hadn't thought about. I would like a link to the studies you talked about. I knew that DARE wasn't very effective, and I pretty much figured that if the slogans being given to me for use are making me roll my eyes, it would make the kids roll their eyes too.
Frustration: people don't think kids are capable of making informed decisions, and so they dumb down or scare up the information they present to the kids.
Posts: 438 | Registered: Apr 2004
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The DARE car from my town won the hotwheels competition and became a hotwheels car! How cool is that? It's the DARE corvette.
Posts: 1401 | Registered: Jun 2004
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Amka, unfortunately, I don't have my textbooks with me, or I would quote from them. I also don't have access to e-journals here, otherwise I would look up the actual studies, but I can point to some secondary sources which are more or less reliable. The studies which are mentioned can be looked up at your local university library. They should have an e-journal catalogue search which will provide at least the abstracts online.
Additionally, the only claims to the contrary I could find refered to studies on percieved effectiveness, with no statistics on actual use. http://www.sayno.com/dgpd.htmlPosts: 1769 | Registered: Feb 2000
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posted
We had DARE frequently and I have never touched alcohol, tobacco, or any other drugs. By senior year though, at least half of my classmates smoked pot regularly and at least three quarters used alcohol. I've begun to think it was money wasted.
Posts: 3446 | Registered: Jul 2002
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Well neither of my parents smoke or do illegal drugs although I recently learned what was in my uncle's pipe isn't tobacco. My other only occasionally drinks in social gatherings and even then never comes close to getting drunk. My dad is addicted to Lipton's iced tea, but that's it. I think that after thirteen years of school that contained anti-drug programs I had it so engrained into me that drugs were bad actually using them never became an issue. Also, I never became aware of how widespread the drug problem at my school was until I was a senior. Also it should be noted that for a public high school in an average economic area it had incredibly little violence, maybe a fight a month, and almost no drug use on campus.
Posts: 3446 | Registered: Jul 2002
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I was traveling in Singapore and the government there had put up a poster in the subway stations that showed this heroin user who was all strung out and filthy and utterly disgusting. I think it was pretty effective.
That, and I think some countries just execute their drug users. It really works to prevent drug use.
Hmmm, which reminds me that I need to try to contact them to get a copy of that poster. It was way cool.
Posts: 1423 | Registered: Sep 2003
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JnsBravo: If you thought that was powerful, see if you can find a copy of Heroines, it's a Vancouver photographer's book of portaits. The subjects were heroin addicted prostitutes living on the downtown eastside. There is no way to describe the emotional impact of the portraits inside, which are made all the more tragic knowing that many of the girls and women photographed were alleged victims of Robert Pickton, a man who stands accused (he's guilty as sin) of butchering at least 50 women over the course of decades while the police did nothing.
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posted
The two things I remember from DARE was a-a photo of someone slouching in a bathroom stall smoking with a sign under that says "And you think this looks COOL?"
And when they handed out straws and told us to breath through them, then connected that breathless feeling we got after a bit to...some drug. forgot which.
Posts: 3493 | Registered: Jul 2001
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posted
I thought Trainspotting was a much better anti-drug movie than Requiem for a Dream. It was much more realistic than Requiem, especially the part about the mother and the amphetamines. Trainspotting felt like a slice of life rather than an anti-drug movie.
Drugs do not alter reality, they alter the lens through which the objective reality is perceived.
Posts: 281 | Registered: Aug 2004
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posted
I intensely dislike Requiem for a Dream, and Darren Aarronofski in general. That movie had great acting, superb cinematography, a brilliant soundtrack, all to give us an ultimately hysterical and redundant message. It's like a pretty Reefer Madness.
Trainspotting, on the other hand, is dead on, and entertaining to boot.
"Chemicals, why would I put that shite in ma body?"
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posted
I saw Trainspotting for the first time when I was around 11, and really liked it. I was kind of a warped little kid.
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21, Thor? Isn't that a little old. Why not 18, when you become a legal adult by any other indication?
Posts: 1769 | Registered: Feb 2000
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NFL: you mean those kids who's parents are so poor they have to give them generic methyphenidate or methadrine?
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DARE has been shown to be ineffective in the long-run. It is basically a money-making marketing scheme that is a huge waste of public school resources. Many school districts are discontinuing it and it has been denounced by many government health agencies.
Amka, please don't give kids candy as a part of this program. I think that childhood obesity is a much bigger problem than drug use and I am completely opposed to rewarding developmentally normal kids with any kind of junk food.
Posts: 3037 | Registered: Jan 2002
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posted
My recommendation would be to have someone who is a survivor of someone who died of 'drugs' come in and talk to the kids and tell what it's like to be left alone in the world because of addiction.
Have an ex-con come in and explain how drugs caused her to land in prison. Maybe do this in conjunction with showing Scared Straight.
Do some kind of carnival that illustrates what it's like to suffer from some of the diseases associated with certain drugs. I'm thinking along the lines of those exhibits that illustrate myopia, etc.
I kind of like the first two since they rely more on showing rather than telling, but are very honest in a way that kids will understand.
Posts: 13123 | Registered: Feb 2002
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posted
Storm, the second option may not be such a good idea. The message seems to be "Don't do drugs or the Man will throw you in the clink." This might very well backfire.
As for close family members of people who have died from illegal drug abuse? Not going to be that easy to track down, especially compared to an ex-addict or addiction counsellor who is willing to talk. Believe it or not, the rate at which illegal drugs kills people in the US is quite low. Much easier to find someone who lost a close family member to cigarettes or alcohol. Just as important, if not more important message anyways. Focusing on illegal drugs to the exclusion of tobacco, alcohol and prescription drugs is leaving out what are by far the greater dangers to public health, especially considering the rate at which addiction to prescription drugs seems to be growing.
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quote: Storm, the second option may not be such a good idea. The message seems to be "Don't do drugs or the Man will throw you in the clink." This might very well backfire.
The point is that emotional honesty is a language children (and people) understand.
I know of a lot of people, including myself, for whom that movie and talking to people and being exposed to their very real pain was very effective. I've never heard of anyone seeing Scared Straight or actually talking with people who'd been in prison that had some kind of emotional backfire where they engaged in more bad behaviors, but I guess YMMV.
quote: As for close family members of people who have died from illegal drug abuse? Not going to be that easy to track down, especially compared to an ex-addict or addiction counsellor who is willing to talk. Believe it or not, the rate at which illegal drugs kills people in the US is quite low. Much easier to find someone who lost a close family member to cigarettes or alcohol.
Maybe, maybe not. Won't know until they look. The key is to show the children honestly the pain that drugs have caused other people. A drug counselor may or may not be able to do that.
quote: Just as important, if not more important message anyways. Focusing on illegal drugs to the exclusion of tobacco, alcohol and prescription drugs is leaving out what are by far the greater dangers to public health, especially considering the rate at which addiction to prescription drugs seems to be growing.
Fine. I never said to focus exclusively on drugs. I was just responding to the request which is.
Posts: 13123 | Registered: Feb 2002
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posted
I'm not suggesting you are advocating excluding legal drugs, I just felt it was worth reiterating because it is important.
As for the Scared Straight angle, the problem as I see it is that it does nothing to convince kids that drugs are actually harmful in ways not imposed by the state. Kids are not stupid, and many will see through these as nothing but an elaborate and scary ad bacculum argument. Essentially, it is no different than "I know what's good for you. Skeptical? Just ask these people who disagreed with me; I beat them unconscious."
quote:I never said to focus exclusively on drugs. I was just responding to the request which is.
It's the use of drugs in quotations that threw me. When I see drugs, unless there is something qualifying it, I think of everything from antibiotics to herbal sleeping pills, to crack, to LSD, etc. When talking about 'drugs of abuse', the implicit subject matter here, I think of it as an inclusive term, rather than just illegal drugs. The context of the question leaves this open, and since DARE was mentioned, which does use an inclusive definition, but chooses to focus on the illegal kind, I treated this term in the more inclusive sense and felt that this needed clarifiying.
posted
One thing I want to add to the excellent suggestions above is this. Don't give kids the idea that everyone who does illegal drugs is someone from whom they must run away screaming in horror. Emphasize that even if all your friends get wasted regularly, you are still wise to choose differently and just be the designated driver or whatever. That people they like and trust may offer them drugs, but all they have to say is "no thanks, none for me" without further comment or censure. That a lot of their friends are probably going to make that mistake, but they don't have to.
My other suggestion is to emphasize how very tedious and stupid people act when they're drunk or stoned or wasted. They're often like really silly or maudlin or even violent, they don't seem to hear anything you try to say to them, and wouldn't remember later on even if they did. I think the number one most important reason not to use drugs can be learned by trying to have any sort of intelligent rational conversation with someone under the influence. My suggestion to anyone trying to decide whether to stop doing drugs is to spend a few nights sober around your friends when they're not. That will convince anyone. Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
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quote:My suggestion to anyone trying to decide whether to stop doing drugs is to spend a few nights sober around your friends when they're not. That will convince anyone.
I'm not sure many people think that they're rational and intelligent while they're doing drugs. In fact, escape from having to be rational and intelligent is one of the big draws.
It really depends on the person, I think, whether they find their drunk/high friends irritating or entertaining while they themselves are sober.
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I suppose if your only end goal is to keep kids from doing drugs, that may be the most effective strategy ever proposed. Other consequences could mitigate it's percieved effectivness however...![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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I mean kids who don't take ridalin at all.
