Colombo Plan Drug Advisory Programme (DAP) Training Series

Universal Prevention Curriculum for Substance Use (UPC) Managers and Supervisors Series

Managers and Supervisors

Course 05
School-Based Prevention Interventions

MODULE 2—WHY SCHOOLS ARE AN

IMPORTANT SETTING FOR
SUBSTANCE USE PREVENTION

2.1
Introduction

2.2
Learning Objectives

 Describe why the school is important as a

setting for substance use prevention
 Discuss the importance of the school’s culture
and climate as a foundation for academic
achievement and substance use prevention
 Specify three key roles that schools can play in
substance use prevention

2.3
Role of Schools: Beyond
Cognition

2.4
2.5
Cognitive Skills

 The ability for students to think for themselves

and to address problems in a reasoned and
carefully considered fashion, either alone or in
discussion with others
 The ability to reason, conceptualize, and solve
problems using unfamiliar information or new
procedures
 The ability to draw conclusions and come up
with solutions by analyzing the relationships
among given conditions
2.6
School Interventions Work within the Micro-Environment to
Positively Affect Children’s Vulnerabilities

2.7
Community Institutions Affect Each Other

2.8
Micro-Level Environments: Primary
Socialization Agents

2.9
Small-Group Exercise: Micro-Level
Environmental Interactions

 In what ways does the family influence schools

in your community?
 In what ways do schools influence the family?
 How does the work-place influence schools?
 How do schools influence what happens in the
workplace?
 How do students influence schools?
 How do schools influence students?

2.10
New Research - Reframing Prevention (1/2)

 Risk and protective factors are indicators of

other mechanisms and processes
 Genetic and biological research show levels of
developmental competencies related to
susceptibility or vulnerability to engagement in
substance use and other negative behaviors
 Such engagement is the result of interactions
between individual vulnerability and
environmental influences (risk or protection)

2.11
New Research - Reframing Prevention (2/2)

 How do risk and protective factors actually

work?
 What are the underlying mechanisms that affect
vulnerability?
 Interventions that foster developmental
competencies can help reduce vulnerability to
engage in substance use and other negative
behaviors

2.12
Mechanisms of Negative Behaviors

Negative behaviors result from

 Failed Socialization
 Poor Decision-Making Skills

2.13
Socialization is Key

2.14
Socialization

 Human infants are born without any culture

 Socialization is a process of transferring culturally-
acceptable attitudes, norms, beliefs and behaviors
and to respond to such cues in the appropriate
manner
 Since socialization is a lifelong process, the individual
will be influenced by a large array of different
socializing agents (e.g., parents, teachers, peers
groups, religious, economic and political
organizations, and virtual agents, such as mass
media)
2.15
Socialization

(Source: Kellam et al., 1975) 2.16

Why Do Schools Matter?

Schools are society’s most important agent of

socialization outside the family.
They -
 Shape attitudes towards responsible behavior in
general, and towards substance use in particular
 Teach appropriate prosocial roles and behaviors and
reinforce the positive behaviors that children learn at
home and in the community
 Provide children and youth an opportunity to practice
these roles and behaviors under adult supervision
2.17
So How Can Schools Make a Difference?

 Physical Setting
 Programs
 Policies
 Culture and Climate

2.18
School Culture and Climate

2.19
School Culture and Climate

Key areas of school culture linked to student

achievement include:
 Beliefs that they are challenged
 Students’ social competencies
 Perceptions of safety
 Perceptions of support

2.20
Students Are Challenged

Students…
 Believe that their schools have high
expectations of them
 Have a strong personal motivation to succeed
 Believe that school is connected to what they
want to accomplish in life
 Have rigorous academic standards that they
must try to achieve

2.21
Students Are Socially Capable

Students …
 Are Emotionally Intelligent
 Are Culturally Competent
 Are Cooperative Team Players
 Contribute to the School Community

2.22
Large-group Discussion: Socially Capable

Give examples of how schools can promote the

development of students who:
 Are Emotionally Intelligent
 Are Culturally Competent
 Are Cooperative Team Players
 Contribute to the School Community

2.23
Students Are Safe

Students feel:
 Physically safe
 Emotionally safe
 Socially safe

2.24
Students Are Treated Fairly

Students feel they are:

 Fairly and equitably treated
 The school is orderly

2.25
Students Are Supported

Students feel they have…

 Meaningful connections to adult teachers and
staff
 Strong bonds to their school
 Positive peer relationships
 Effective support that is available when they
need it

2.26
The Importance of Support and Safety (1/2)

The amygdala
processes fear
and impulsive
reactions

2.27
The Importance of Support and Safety (2/2)

 Stimulation of the amygdala leads to:

 Anxiety
 Overreaction to Perceived Threats
 Depression
 Social support reduces the strength of the
relationship between the amygdala and anxious
behavior

2.28
Schools With a Poor School Climate:
Characteristics (1/2)

 Disconnectedness and disengagement

 Physical or psychological danger: teasing,
bullying, and gangs
 Poor, uncaring, and disrespectful Interactions
and relationships with school staff and peers

2.29
Schools With a Poor School Climate:
Characteristics (2/2)

 Teachers more focused on order than on

teaching, but have great difficulty in maintaining
order
 Low expectations of achievement
 Reactive, punitive, or inconsistent approaches to
discipline
 School policies are not understood or fairly
enforced

2.30
Individual Exercise: Positive School Climate

 Listthree factors that are associated with a

positive school climate
 Why do you think these relate to a positive
school climate?

2.31
What Roles Can Schools Play in the Prevention
of Substance Use?

 Schools have a major role to play

 Demand reduction
 Supply reduction
 Reducing the negative consequences of substance
use
 Of
the three, schools’ greatest responsibility is
demand reduction

2.32
Making the Case for Substance Use Prevention
(1/2)

Schools are the best venue for child and

adolescent substance use prevention:
 That’s where the children are
 Prevention messages can reach a large
population of young people
 Messages delivered to universal populations
can be delivered without stigma
 Universal prevention programs reach everyone,
including youth at low and high risk
2.33
Making the Case for Substance Use Prevention
(2/2)

 Effectivesubstance use prevention programs

have been linked to academic achievement and
dropout prevention

2.34
Large-group Discussion: Key Points for
Prevention

 What are the key points to support the case for

bringing evidence-based prevention to your
school?

2.35
Challenges to Prevention in Schools

 The primary task of schools is education, and

they should not be asked to cure society’s
problems all by themselves
 Schools do not have the power to control the use
of alcohol, tobacco and other substance uses
 Schools have a role to play in establishing a
base of shared values that influence health-
related behavior and create a school
environment that is protective against substance
use
2.36
Large-group Exercise: Reflections

 Whatinformation that you learned in this module

is most important for your work as a prevention
manager and supervisor?

 Why?

2.37
Module 2 Evaluation
15 minutes
2.38