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Youth in grades 6-8 are risk takers. What once scared them
now intrigues them. They are quick to accept dares, to test
rules and laws to the limit, and to flirt with death,
believing it will never touch them. The risks of using drugs
are intriguing on several levels: frustrating the law,
breaking the rules of parents and schools, and defying
physical danger. As teachers involved in drug prevention
programs related to the short and long-term consequences of
drug use, it is important to address this attraction to
risks. The best way to present information is not through
threats, statistics, or lectures about "morality," but by
focusing on how drugs affect the human body and mind, human
relationships, and their environment. Young adolescents are
becoming aware of the future, and are beginning to see
beyond just today. They can now see the payoffs and
penalties of education and behavior choices, as long as the
adults in their lives do not place an outcome (positive or
negative) so far in the future that it is totally
disconnected from the behavior. In fact, they learn more
from what they see us do and not do, not from what we say.
They learn from our backs as they follow us and watch our
behavior.
Youths in grades 6-8 are just beginning to think
abstractly to deal with the future. They are beginning to
understand more complex ideas. They understand incongruities
among words, behaviors, and consequences of behavior. As a
result, drug prevention education and information can be
broadened and presented in a variety of contexts and through
numerous subjects.
Using the Web site
Freevibe as a resource to infuse accurate drug
information and the core messages to youth through various
subject matter areas within the school curricula is one way
to do this. The core prevention messages include:
- Most of their peers - and the people they admire -
do not use drugs.
- Getting high has negative physical, mental and
social consequences.
- Staying drug free has positive benefits for body
mind and soul.
- Young people can learn how to make good decisions
without bad consequences.
The Teachers' Guide will continue to evolve as a resource
for teachers and parents. It cannot be overstated that the
primary value of Freevibe is that it gives teachers and
parents insight into the minds of kids. While it is a
resource to be used within the learning environments, it is
not a drug prevention curriculum.
Friendships are extremely important to helping young
people choose their paths in life. For that reason, it is
important for adults - especially parents - to know who
their children's friends are; to encourage positive,
healthy, helpful friendships; and to guide their children
away from friendships that are potentially harmful. Parents
and teachers should work together to help young adolescents
develop friendships that encourage growth toward healthy,
well-rounded, responsible adulthood. Freevibe can serve as
one of the dependable, positive friends in the life of a
child.
Young adolescents are searching for identity. Without
adult supervision and guidance, they may falter or veer off
in a potentially dangerous direction. Parents and teachers
themselves should seek to be models of the healthy,
responsible behavior they expect in their children or
students. Young adolescents are quick to see the hypocrisy
of saying one thing but doing another.
Parents should know the other adults, as well as the
peers, with whom their children spend time. Here again is
where Freevibe can be a valuable resource. Freevibe can help
parents and teachers to understand their own children or
students by providing an inside look into the shared
experiences, interests, values and beliefs of young
adolescents. |
