Taking a Life Skills-based Approach to Drug Education

Description of tool:
This tool explains how the principles and methods of life skills-based education can be
applied to improve drug education programmes. It includes a description of the key
components of life skills-based drug education programmes, and suggested content
for programmes targeting young children, pre-adolescents and adolescents. It also
includes a discussion of the knowledge, attitudes and skills that teachers of drug
education programmes need to successfully use the life skills approach.

The information in this tool was adapted by UNESCO from the following publication:

UNICEF, n.d. Life Skills-Based Education for Drug Prevention: Training Manual.
New York: UNICEF.
http://www.unicef.org/lifeskills/DrugUsePreventionTrainingManual.pdf

Description of document
The aim of the manual is to introduce teachers and others who work with young
people to a way of teaching drug education and other health issues such as HIV/AIDS,
based on the development of links between knowledge, values and skills. It is not a
drug education programme, but introduces ideas and skills for building programmes
that can lead to better health and drug education outcomes that may ultimately
influence student drug use. It focuses in particular on skills and strategies that health
education/drug education teachers can use to help young people enhance personal
and social competence through the development of life skills.

This information or activity supports Core

Component #3 of the FRESH framework
for effective school health: skills-based
health education. It will have a greater
impact if it is reinforced by activities in the
other three components of the framework.

FRESH Tools for Effective School Health First Edition

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Taking a Life Skills-based Approach to Drug Education 1

Background

It is now widely recognized that for individuals to choose, adopt and maintain behaviours that
preserve and promote health, knowledge alone is generally not sufficient. Especially when
there are temptations, pressures, pleasure or awards associated with doing things that are
unhealthy—like smoking, having unprotected sex, using drugs or joining a gang—individuals
need more than just to know what is in their best interests. They also need to be motivated
to do (or not do) what is necessary to protect their interests and finally, to be capable of
doing it. To make all this possible, skills-based health education seeks to help individuals
develop a combination of knowledge, attitudes and skills.

The skills needed include both practical health skills, such as proper handwashing
technique, correct use of a condom or using bleach to disinfect drug injection equipment,
and life skills, which the World Health Organization defines as “abilities for adaptive and
positive behaviour that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and
challenges of everyday life.” In particular, life skills are a group of cognitive, personal and
interpersonal abilities that help people make informed decisions, solve problems, think
critically and creatively, communicate effectively, build healthy relationships, empathise with
others, and cope with and manage their lives in a healthy and productive manner. Life skills-
based education, whether for health (in which case it is often referred to as skills-based
health education) or other subjects (e.g., peace education, human rights, civics or social
studies), relies on relevant and effective content, and participatory or interactive teaching
and learning methods to achieve a combination of knowledge, attitude and skills objectives.

I. Key Components of Life Skills-based Drug Education

In addition to the harmful effects of the drugs themselves (see Effects of Different
Substances on Our Health) drug use can have a direct impact on sexual and reproductive
health. In the age of AIDS, and considering that young people in general and drug users in
particular are both high-risk groups for HIV infection, everything that can be done, must be
done to empower young people to act responsibly to protect their own and others health.
Schools have been successful in providing drug and sexuality education that assists
students to acquire the knowledge and develop the attitudes and skills to avoid drug abuse,
sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy. Evaluations of effective programmes indicate
that a range of activities should be selected to ensure a balance of:

 accurate, easy to understand information;

 opportunities for students to explore their own and others’ values and attitudes; and
 opportunities for students to learn and practise specific skills.

Key components of effective life skills-based drug education programmes, detailed in Table
1, include:

(i) Appropriate content: drug specific knowledge, attitudes and skills

(ii) Appropriate teaching methodologies: student-centred, participatory and interactive

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Table 1: Key Components of Effective Life Skills-based Drug Education

Content (drug specific Knowledge, Attitudes and Skills) Teaching

Methods
Knowledge Attitudes Life Skills

About: Related to: Including: Which are:

 types of drugs  self worth and worth  self esteem  child centred
of others
 qualities of drugs  communication  interactive and
 responsibility for and problem participatory
 the physical, emotional, oneself, one’s actions solving
social and financial and future  inclusive of all
impact of drugs  decision making learners
 assumptions about
 current national drug drug users, including:  values and include:
trends, including clarification
- stereotypes
information about:  group processes
- gender issues
 assertiveness
- patterns of use
 brainstorming
- prevention activities  assumptions about
 coping and stress
- treatment services people with HIV or
management  role play
AIDS, including:
 transmission and
- stereotypes  empathy  educational
prevention of HIV/AIDS
- gender issues games
and other sexually
transmitted infections
 media and  debates
 disease processes advertising
presentations of  practising skills
alcohol, tobacco and with others
 infection control
other legal drugs
 audio and visual
 harm minimization
 social values that activities
 health services determine class,
status, privilege and
 myths and disadvantage
misinformation

II. Possible Program Content

Suggestions for the kinds of knowledge, attitudes and skills objectives appropriate for drug
education targeting young children, pre-adolescents and adolescents are provided in Tables
2-4. These are offered only as a guide and should be adapted to suit the needs of students
in different contexts.

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Table 2: Young children

The focus should be on developing healthy attitudes and confidence and some skills
(e.g. personal hygiene, identifying a trusted adult and seeking help) but children at
this age generally do not have a great deal of control over choices or environment.

KNOWLEDGE

Students learn:
 about self confidence and self esteem
 rules and responsibilities in families
 sharing and caring for family and friends
 people who can help them when they have questions or concerns
 physical and emotional differences and ways of accepting these differences
 importance of friends and expressing feelings
 what medicines are, the safety rules that apply to medicines and the dangers of
taking an incorrect dose
 alternatives to medicines
 ways to prevent the spread of disease
 importance of personal hygiene
 appropriate universal precautions
 names and functions of internal and external body parts
 nutrition basics and healthy eating habits
 the power of advertising
 dangers of side-stream smoking

ATTITUDES and VALUES

Students demonstrate:
 respect for their bodies and appreciation of what makes them unique
 positive attitudes towards self and confidence in their ability to deal with a
variety of situations and people
 appropriate attitudes towards medicines, health professionals and hospitals
 appropriate attitudes towards alcohol and tobacco
 basic understanding of the purpose of advertising
 empathy towards people living with HIV/AIDS

SKILLS

Students are able to:

 demonstrate basic listening skills and work effectively in small groups
 communicate with friends and others and deliver clear messages
 express feelings openly and honestly when sick or hurt
 make choices relating to toys, food, sleep, play, friends and drugs
 set goals to keep themselves safe and drug free
 follow simple safety instructions and know when and how to get help from
adults
 consider their feelings and the feelings of others

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Table 3: Pre-adolescent children

Emerging vulnerability to most common legal drugs,
especially experimentation and social pressure
KNOWLEDGE

Students learn:
 school rules relating to medicines, alcohol, tobacco, solvents and illegal drugs
 detailed information about the body, how it works and how to take care of it
 different types of medicines, both prescribed and over the counter, legal and
illegal drugs including their form, their effects and associated risks
 laws relating to the use of legal and illegal drugs
 people who can help them when they are sick or have questions and concerns
 necessity of sleep, rest, relaxation and activity
 dangers of handling used condoms, needles and syringes
 recognition of a variety of feelings and changes in relationships
 the purpose and methods of advertising
 ethnic, geographic, religious and historical influences affecting eating habits and
drug use
 short term effects of legal drugs e.g. tobacco, alcohol and other locally available
substances
 to identify lifestyle diseases and their costs
 the physical and emotional changes that occur during puberty, and the
importance of personal hygiene
 myths about sex, masturbation, reproduction, contraception, etc.
 positive and negative aspects of peer pressure on health behaviour
 current health issues
ATTITUDES and VALUES

Students demonstrate:
 acceptance of responsibility for their actions and safety
 respect for the opinions and lives of others
 positive attitudes towards people living with HIV/AIDS
 positive attitudes towards personal hygiene and health
 acceptance of themselves and change
 accepting attitudes and beliefs about drugs and people who use them
 critical attitudes of media and advertising presentations of alcohol, tobacco and
other legal drugs
SKILLS

Students are able to:

 communicate effectively with a wide range of people
 identify problem or risk situations and make decisions based on accurate
information
 cope with peer influences, assert their ideas and convey their decisions
 use decision making and assertiveness skills in situations relating to drug use
 adjust to changes in their lives
 maintain friendships
 resist dares and other peer pressure
 carry out the correct procedure for dealing with discarded syringes and needles
 give care and get help
 critical analysis of advertising

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Table 4: Adolescents
Adolescent children need sequence and progression with:
 emphasis on use of most common legal substances with more about
illegal substances
 evolving independence, increasing responsibility, peer and social
pressure and media.

KNOWLEDGE

Students learn:
 importance of good self esteem, positive self concept and self identity
 meanings of the terms sex, sexuality, and gender
 traditional roles and the changing nature of male and female roles
 adolescents’ role in relation to their family
 physical changes in puberty and emotional changes about self and sexual
feelings
 conception, pregnancy, symptoms of STI and personal protection
 pressures that can influence health behaviour
 physical characteristics of the body and benefits of exercise
 incidence of common diseases in their countries and disease prevention
 individual responsibility for health and the importance of universal precautions
 non drug taking as an attractive lifestyle
 abstinence, moderation and alternatives to drug use, including definition of
drugs, misuse and drug abuse
 drugs and the law
 short and long term effects of the most common legal and illegal substances,
related diseases, such as HIV, and problems specific to their country
 myths about drugs and sexuality and their effects on behaviour
 prevention and transmission of HIV
 environmental influences on community health
 how to analyse advertising and the impact of media messages on health
behaviour

ATTITUDES and VALUES

Students demonstrate:
 a willingness to use school and community resources to gain information or
services related to drugs
 a personal commitment to refrain from using drugs and confidence in their
ability to resist
 understanding of the social and cultural influences on young people
 that they value their own health and the health of their family, now and for the
future
 acceptance of responsibility in relation to future roles
 empathy for people with disability or illness, especially addiction or HIV
 awareness of how values and attitudes affect health, particularly, the effect of
stigma and discrimination

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Table 4: Adolescents (continued)

SKILLS

Students are able to:

 communicate with parents and peers, and demonstrate other relationship skills;
 give and get care in a variety of situations for health-related issues
 set short and long term goals
 manage their own conflict, aggression, stress and time
 identify and assess personal risk
 practice universal precautions
 make decisions and assert themselves to protect their own health
 deal with positive and negative peer pressure
 work effectively with others and cope with change, loss and grief
 withstand pressures for sexual involvement and assess associated health risks
 analyse advertising and the impact of media messages on health behaviour
 monitor and assess body functions and changes

III. Knowledge, Attitudes and Skills for teachers and facilitators

Life skills-based education requires more of teachers/facilitators than traditional education

does because in addition to knowing the facts, teachers of life skills-based education must
examine their own values and attitudes and develop a wider range of teaching skills.

Knowledge
The teacher must possess at least a basic level of knowledge to be an effective facilitator of
learning. The following knowledge competencies do not describe an expert; but rather, a
teacher who understands the needs and concerns of his/her students and feels comfortable
handling class discussions and student questions.

The teacher/facilitator needs to have knowledge and understanding of:

 human growth and development (physical and psychosocial);
 current trends in drug use and abuse, particularly among the targeted group(s);
 street names, general composition and effects of the most common drugs;
 current drug-related issues, and policies and laws governing drug use;
 strategies for drug abuse prevention and harm reduction, including knowledge of
infection control procedures; and
 drug-related community resources and their functions.

Attitudes and values

Different societies hold different values surrounding sexuality and drug related issues.
Opinion may change as issues arise. Individual values and attitudes towards these issues
vary greatly and students need the opportunity to explore their values and attitudes with
respect to their peers, family, religion, community and country. Teacher/facilitator attitudes
towards students and health education will influence the skills and knowledge considered
important.

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The values and attitudes of an effective drug education teacher/facilitator include:

 conviction that they serve more as a facilitator of learning than the giver of information;
 acceptance of their personal limitations and a willingness to seek assistance;
 conviction of the worth and dignity of every student;
 respect for all students’ families regardless of particular family lifestyle;
 accepting of (though not necessarily condoning) a range of opinions and points of view;
 respect (as opposed to shame or embarrassment) for the human body and for the
natural processes of physical and social development; and
 conviction that drug and sexuality issues are legitimate issues for the learning
environment.

Skills
Skills are the techniques and methods used by the teacher to achieve educational
objectives. Good teaching and interpersonal skills are critical to effective drug education.

The teacher needs skills in:

 recognising and addressing student concerns around drug issues;
 selecting effective teaching methods and materials;
 modelling effective communication, problem-solving, decision-making and assertiveness
skills;
 managing small groups and working with students individually when necessary;
 promoting open, non-judgmental discussions and encouraging mutual respect and
understanding;
 assessing student development and learning; and
 identifying the special needs of individual students and developing and implementing
individualized plans to meet the needs identified.

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Adapted from: UNICEF, n.d. Life Skills-Based Education for Drug Prevention: Training Manual. New York: UNICEF.