Educators
Educators have a unique opportunity to open a dialog about underage alcohol use
with their students. Use the following Classroom Resources
to help young people learn about alcohol use and how it can affect their academic
performance. Use the Materials for handouts
to students and their parents or in classroom displays.
Alcohol and Education offers research of special interest to educators.
Visit the Statistics page
for facts about underage drinking and its consequences. The UAD Web Sites page provides links to several
sites with additional resources for educators on helping students avoid underage
alcohol use.
Classroom Resources
Protecting You/Protecting Me (Grades 1–5)
This classroom-based alcohol use prevention and vehicle safety program is designed for elementary school students aged 6–11 and high school students in grades 11 and 12. The program aims to reduce alcohol-related injuries and death among children and youth due to underage alcohol use and alcohol-related vehicle crashes. Topic areas discussed in this program include media awareness and literacy, alcohol use risk and protective factors, knowledge of the brain growth and development, vehicle safety knowledge and skills, and alcohol use. (National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)
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Reach Out Now/Reach Out Now Teach-In (Grades 5–6)
Reach Out Now is an initiative, developed through a collaboration between the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and Scholastic Inc., to provide fifth- and sixth-grade teachers with ready-to-use evidence-based underage drinking prevention materials. Resources include lesson plans and worksheets, an interactive wall poster, bonus skill-building activity worksheets, and a take-home discussion guide to stimulate discussions between students and their adult caregivers about underage drinking. (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)
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The Cool Spot Web Site (Grades 6–8)
The Cool Spot's content is drawn from research-based alcohol prevention curriculum for students in grades 6–8. The site includes the key elements of effective prevention programs: correction of norms perception, facts about alcohol misuse, challenges to expectations, and information about peer pressure and resistance skills. The Cool Spot adapts this content in an engaging, interactive format featuring vivid graphics and characters drawn in the “anime” style of Japanese comics. It focus tested very well in its intended audience of 11- to 13-year-olds, who particularly appreciated the peer pressure and resistance skills sections. The site includes an interactive, 10-question assessment that educators can use to determine whether students have gleaned some of the site's key learning objectives. (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)
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Brain Power! Challenge: Grades 6–9
This module focuses on how two drugs, nicotine and alcohol, change the functioning of the brain and body. The goal of this module is to help students understand that although nicotine and alcohol are legal for adults, they are not harmless substances. Instead, both nicotine and alcohol can have a strong negative impact on the functioning of the body and brain, ranging from mild symptoms to addiction. (National Institute on Drug Abuse, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; June 2010)
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Understanding Alcohol: Investigations into Biology and Behavior (Grade 7)
Produced by the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study and funded by National Institutes of Health’s Office of Science Education and National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, this free curriculum consists of six sequential, inquiry-based lessons for integration into a seventh-grade science class. All activities fulfill the requirements of the 5 E’s Model (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate) and meet National Science Education Standards’ Content and Performance Standards. (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)
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AlcoholEdu for High School
This program is an online, interactive alcohol education and prevention course designed to increase alcohol-related knowledge, discourage acceptance of underage drinking, and prevent the increase of alcohol use and its related negative consequences. Topic areas include current alcohol use and intention to change drinking status, acceptance of underage drinking, knowledge about alcohol, passenger safety when a driver has been drinking, and perception of the ability to limit drinking.(National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)
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Materials
 Underage Drinking: Myths vs. Facts
This brochure dispels common myths about underage alcohol use and helps 9- to 15-year-olds understand the dangers associated with using alcohol. (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; updated 2010)
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Reach Out Now Poster
This poster, which includes a teacher’s guide on the reverse side, can be used to initiate classroom discussions on how students can refuse peer pressure or react to situations that encourage alcohol use.
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Underage Drinking Prevention Poster
The selections in this colorful poster’s vending machine represent the many activities youth can choose to do instead of drinking. Aimed to support underage drinking programs in middle schools, the poster directs students to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism’s adolescent underage drinking prevention Web site. (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; February 2006)
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Alcohol and Education
Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention for Youth: A Practitioner’s Guide
This guide is designed to help health care professionals quickly identify youth at risk for alcohol-related problems. Based on just two questions, one that asks about friends’ drinking and another that asks about personal drinking frequency, health care professionals can now detect risk early, in contrast to other screens that focus on established alcohol problems. This early detection tool aims to help prevent alcohol-related problems in children and youth before they start or address them at early stage. (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 2011)
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Adolescent and School Health: School Connectedness
School connectedness—the belief held by students that adults and peers in the school care about their learning as well as about them as individuals—is an important protective factor. Research has shown that young people who feel connected to their school are less likely to engage in many risk behaviors, including alcohol, tobacco, and drug use, violence, and early sex. This fact sheet describes six strategies that teachers, administrators, other school staff, and parents can implement to increase the extent to which students feel connected to school. Links to additional resources also are provided. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; updated March 2011)
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Adolescent Development and Alcohol Use Video Conference
This video conference covers a wide range of areas related to adolescence and alcohol—statistics, neuroscience, growth and development, influence of peers and parents, cultural and behavioral milestones in adolescence, and societal influences, among other issues. Two National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism scientists outline the state of the science in this area and how this pertinent information can be used by educators, counselors, community leaders, and parents when addressing this issue with today’s youth. (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; December 2008)
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Alcohol Alert No. 68: Young Adult Drinking
This Alcohol Alert describes why young people often choose to drink and how alcohol affects their brains. (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; April 2006)
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Alcohol and the Developing Adolescent Brain
This factsheet provides research information on developmental changes in the brain during adolescence and the potentially harmful effects of alcohol exposure in youth. (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; no date)
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College Alcohol Risk Assessment Guide: Environmental Approaches to Prevention
Despite general agreement among campus officials and students that alcohol use contributes to a range of problems confronting colleges and universities, prevention often does not command a high priority for students, faculty, and staff. This guide is designed to help college administrators identify factors within the campus environment that contribute to alcohol-related problems. These factors are examined within the context of the public health approach, which emphasizes how the environment shapes behavior. (Higher Education Center for Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Violence Prevention, U.S. Department of Education; updated 2009)
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Higher Education Center Publications
The Prevention 101 Series provides practitioners with critical information through essential tools in many foundational processes and prevention approaches. The introductory publications in this series address a range of topics, such as needs assessment, strategic planning, building coalitions, and evaluating prevention programs. (Higher Education Center for Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Violence Prevention, U.S. Department of Education)
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