Substance Abuse Prevention Programs for Adolescents

In prevention programs for adolescents, some methods have been effective, but others have not worked as planned. Generally, prevention programs aimed at youth that merely educate adolescents about the dangers of drug abuse, promote appropriate values, focus on self-esteem building and use scare tactics do not decrease teen substance abuse. Programs that do work focus on using the well-known need and desire of young people to fit in, as well as the tendency of this age group to be creative and fun-loving, to direct them away from drug experimentation and abuse. In short, the same factors that cause teens to use drugs can be used to discourage them from using them.

Normative Education

• Normative education is a prevention strategy that uses teen opinion polls and statistics, often on the web, to teach adolescents that most teens do not actually use drugs. A common misconception among teens and adults is that most kids use drugs and that this is a common rite of passage. Instead, research indicates that most teens do not use drugs. This approach uses the tendency of adolescents to follow the crowd to the advantage of anti-drug prevention programs by using this desire to direct young people away from drug experimentation and abuse.

Protective Factors

• Protective factors are conditions found in young people's lives that discourage drug and alcohol use and are statistically found to be negatively correlated with it. Such factors include positive action, volunteer work, reaching academic potential, excelling in sports, positive goal-setting and values that promote helping and caring for others. Involving young people in productive activities, rather than focusing on drug abuse or other behaviors they should avoid, is found to be highly successful among the adolescent population.

Refusal Skills

• Assertiveness training groups that teach young people ways to refuse the invitations of friends and acquaintances to experiment with drugs and alcohol are found to be effective. Obviously, this strategy will not work for teens who use drugs out of curiosity, but it is effective with those who do not actually wish to use drugs but tend to follow the crowd in order to fit in or be more popular. Drug refusal skills are role-played in group prevention situations, with one teen acting as the drug refusal person while others use a number of tactics to encourage drug and alcohol use. Parents can also practice drug refusal skills with their teens at home.

Role of the Community

• The entire community should involve itself in drug and alcohol prevention strategy because young people do not live in group prevention planned meetings continuously. Schools, churches, clinics and recreational organizations should all work together formally to encourage young people to avoid the abuse of drugs and alcohol. It is recommended that a curriculum for such activities be developed and that interested parties within the community meet at least on a monthly basis to discuss it.

Role of Schools in Prevention

• Because most individuals begin drug and alcohol abuse as teens--and in some cases as pre-teens--public and private elementary, middle and high schools are the most productive places to target those in need of substance abuse prevention programs. Early childhood, middle school and high school teachers and staff should be educated about all aspects of substance use and abuse and trained to recognize those who need preventive and other drug treatment assistance. A program for the assessment of youth within the school setting should be implemented within school systems, and access to certified substance abuse counselors should be available to all school programs.