Substance Abuse Program
"Alcohol, Tobacco, and other Drugs"
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This program is appropriate for students in grades 4 to 6 or ages 10
to 12. This three-part program consists of pre-presentation
information, a 45 minute interactive, life-size puppet play and
follow-up activities.
Starting Over, Making the Right Choices, Helping a Friend
Featuring Eric Van Aart, Joanne Spinoza, Valerie Perkins and Paul
Worthington. Three effective scripts STARTING OVER, MAKING THE RIGHT
CHOICES and HELPING A FRIEND are performed together. Each is designed
to encourage young people to think and talk about the issues
surrounding Alcohol, Tobacco and Drug use.
STARTING OVER focuses on the effects of gateway drugs, especially
alcohol, information on the legality of alcohol and drugs and the
consequences of using alcohol and other drugs.
MAKING THE RIGHT CHOICES is designed to assist young people with
problem solving skills and to learn how to avoid situations where
peer pressure may be difficult to resist.
HELPING A FRIEND explores why a person may choose to use
substances, where to go for help, and the alternatives to drug
use.
This interactive puppet presentation gives the audience the opportunity to
interact with the characters.
Pre-Presentation Activities
VOCABULARY FOR STUDENTS
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- injectable drugs (IV drugs)
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CONCEPTS FOR STUDENTS
- How people act when they are "high"
- How to deal with peer pressure
- How to make good choices and decisions
- How to problem solve
- How friends try to help
DISCUSSION TOPICS
(in a small or large group brainstorm or discuss these issues)
- What happens if a person uses a substance when they
do not really need to? Why would they want to?
- Where can a person go to get help if he/she gets into
trouble by using substance (e.g., drugs or alcohol)?
- How can people keep themselves from not becoming involved
in substance abuse?
- What are the effects of peer pressure? What would
you do if you were peer pressured into taking a substance that you didn't
want to do?
- How do you go about solving a difficult problem? What
do you do? Who do you talk to? Why?
It's Not Easy to Say "NO"!
Objective:
Students will learn how to say no to their peers, even when it is
their friend who is offering them a drug
Supplies:
One pen for each group, one piece of paper for the group's recorder.
Procedure:
Divide the students up into groups of four and assign one student
in each group to be a recorder.
Explain to the students that saying no to people who are NOT our friends
may be easy, but saying no to a friend who is doing something wrong is
hard. Before you begin, have them tell you why saying no to a friend isn't
easy.
Explain to the students the concept of brainstorming - that each person
says what comes into their minds and no one is to judge them for the suggestion
(all ideas are written down). Then tell them they will have 10 minutes
to brainstorm ideas on how to say no to a friend in the following situations.
1. You are at a friend's house after school and there are no parents
there. Your friend asks you to "raid the liquor cabinet".
2. You and some friends are playing basketball. Some older kids stop
by with a brown bag. They ask you and your friends if you want to try
what is in the bag.
Remind the recorders that their job is to write every suggestion. Once
the 10 minutes is up, have each recorder tell the class about the group's
ideas or have the group role play the different suggestions.
DISCUSSION
Was it easy to come up with your ideas?
Has anyone ever tried using some of these ideas?
Do you think any of these ideas would work? Why or why not?
Name another situation where you may have to say no.
Post-Presentation
There are a number of follow-up activities that are
included in the package.
After students have participated in the puppet performance
there are a number of activities that can be done with the young people to stimulate
discussion on the topic of Substance Abuse and deepen their understanding of
the problems faced by persons with Substance Abuse problems.
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