Protecting You / Protecting Me



Program Overview

Protecting You/Protecting Me helps students in grades 1 through 5 achieve more by learning the importance of protecting their brains through: group activities, structured discussion, role play, exploring real life topics and issues and parental involvement.

The goal of the curriculum is to prevent injury and death of children and youth due to:

• underage consumption of alcoholic beverages, and
• vehicle-related risks, especially as passengers in vehicles in which the driver is not alcohol-free.

Based on the latest brain research, the curriculum states that the developing brain is much different from an adult brain. The students learn about:

• the role and importance of the brain
• brain growth and development
• the dangers of alcohol exposure to the developing brain
• the importance of protecting themselves by making good decisions

Results: Evaluation of PY/PM has shown that students receiving the lessons are:

• more knowledgeable about their brains and when they are grown up
• more media literate
• less likely to ride with a driver who is not alcohol-free
• less likely to drink when they are teen-agers

Teachers and non-school personnel must attend a workshop to receive the required training and materials to implement PY/PM.

Protecting You/Protecting Me provides a series of 40 classroom-based lessons, 8 lessons each in grades 1 through 4, and 10 in grade 5. Each lesson is designed to be incorporated into a school's core curriculum and taught by volunteers or teachers who have received training.

The curriculum has been tested with over 3,500 elementary school students in six states and Guam in three separate pilot tests using classroom teachers, high school students in the PAL( (Peer Assistance and Leadership) Program, and MADD staff and volunteers as presenters.
 

The keepin' it R.E.A.L. Curriculum   http://keepinitreal.asu.edu/

The keepin' it R.E.A.L. curriculum is a series of 10 lessons designed to be taught in 40-45 minutes each. The objective of the lessons is to increase life skills such as risk assessment, decision-making and drug resistance, while enhancing anti-drug norms and attitudes. The curriculum was designed from the beginning as a culturally-appropriate intervention incorporating ethnic values and practices that protect against drug use. It was developed from narratives (stories) collected from adolescents in each ethnic group, which were then used to create the five videos used in the curriculum. Each video dramatizes drug use situations faced by students, and each ends with successful drug resistance. Enjoyable activities are included in each lesson to illustrate the skills and allow students to practice the R.E.A.L drug-resistance strategies.

Project Towards No Drug Abuse

Project TND is an effective, interactive classroom-based substance abuse prevention program that is based on more than two decades of successful research at the University of Southern California.  Project TND focuses on three factors that predict tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use, violence-related behaviors, and other problem behaviors among youth, including:
	Motivation factors (i.e., students' attitudes, beliefs, expectations, and desires regarding drug use);
	Skills (social, self-control, and coping skills); and
	Decision-making (i.e., how to make decisions that lead to health-promoting behaviors).

Project TND targets high school youth, ages 14 to 19. The program has proved successful when implemented in regular as well as alternative (continuation) high schools, with students from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds.

At the completion of this program, students will be able to:
	Stop or reduce the use of cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana, and hard drugs (i.e., cocaine, hallucinogens, depressants, amphetamines, etc).
	Stop or reduce weapon carrying.
	State accurate information about the consequences of drug use and abuse, including environmental, social, physiological, and emotional consequences.
	Demonstrate behavioral and cognitive coping skills.
	Make a personal commitment regarding drug use.

KID'S CONNECTION: Curriculum

Kids' Connection:  A Support Group Curriculum for Children Ages 4-12

Kids' Connection Goal:  To provide a safe place for youth to learn vital life skills that will help them make healthy choices, overcome adversity, and stay drug-free while gaining a greater understanding of themselves and others.