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Ways to Prevent Drug & Alcohol Abuse

Most drug and alcohol abuse begins with users experimenting at a very young age. Teens and preteens are naturally curious, often lack assertiveness skills, and many have not yet developed the confidence or self-assurance necessary to avoid following the crowd into wrongful and destructive behavior. In order to prevent drug and alcohol abuse, we need to change the perceived norms of our youth, as well as of our adult population, so that we do not accept substance abuse as merely a rite of passage.

  1. Normative Education

    • Most young people do not abuse drugs or alcohol, but the common assumption is that they do. Normative education teaches young people that using drugs or alcohol is not the norm among their peers. Normative education provides young people with the hard statistics that most of them do not use drugs, freeing youth from the assumption they must abuse drugs in order to fit in.

    Community Action & Involvement

    • Substance abuse and addictive behavior do not develop in a vacuum, and general attitudes within our community establish norms, or perceived norms, among young people. School systems, churches, recreational facilities, politicians, parents and concerned citizens should work together to institute drug-free norms within our culture and their particular communities. A good place to begin is by not abusing substances ourselves. If we drink, we should do so responsibly, and if we smoke cigarettes, we should consider recovery from nicotine addiction. Youth quickly recognize hypocrisy and will not respond to mixed messages. We teach more with our actions than with our words.

    Protective Factors

    • Protective factors make substance abuse and addiction less likely to happen. Involvement in school and extracurricular activities such as sports, volunteer work, and school politics are all protective. A caring adult who befriends a young person and assists with proper guidance through role modeling and teaching appropriate behavior can make a difference. Achievement and excellent academic performance are also self-esteem builders that correlate negatively with substance abuse. Allowing students to complete their own research on substance abuse is more successful than large assembly meetings.

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