The Philosophy of SADD
SADD was founded on the simple philosophy that young people, empowered to help each other, are the most effective force in prevention. For more than a quarter-century, SADD has been recognized as a national leader in alcohol and drug education and prevention. What began as a small-town, grass-roots response to the tragedy of two impaired driving crashes and the resulting deaths of two teenage students quickly grew to become a nationwide organization fueled by millions of young people across the country and around the world. Through the efforts of SADD and similar organizations and with changes in government policy and law, the number of teen alcohol-related traffic crashes has been reduced by almost 60 percent. SADD’s "Contract for Life" has become part of the vernacular. At the same time, the world of teenagers has become more complex, and substance abuse, violence, HIV/AIDS, and suicide are also threats to teens’ well-being. With its expansion of focus to include other destructive decisions, SADD is the premier youth-based education and prevention organization in America and maintains the ability to play a leading role in effective, evidence-based prevention programming.

The Value of SADD

• Information Dissemination and Access to Local Communities
  With thousands of chapters nationwide and a strong network of state coordinators and school-based advisors, SADD is uniquely positioned to help young people with the growing threats to their health, happiness, and safety. Through their campaigns and activities, SADD chapters influence millions of people in schools, families, local community organizations, businesses, law enforcement agencies, and the media. As an active, established youth program, SADD reaches into more schools and touches more young people for longer periods of time than does any other program.
  
  
• Integration of Prevention Principles
  In this era of science-based prevention and increased accountability, SADD is continuously strengthening and documenting the effectiveness of its activities and programming. Its strong name recognition and expansive chapter base put SADD at an unparalleled advantage to take a leadership role in implementing model prevention practices in local communities across the country.
  
  Much of the research literature available about effective prevention programming details a framework of science-based principles that SADD embraces. One of the foremost principles of prevention consistently cited is positive youth development, the very essence of SADD. Through SADD chapters, young people of all ages and backgrounds become skilled, educated agents for youth initiatives developed by local, state, and national organizations working to promote youth safety and health. SADD students are valued as contributing members of their communities. Using the array of resources available in their cities and states, SADD students seek out and connect their school communities to information, ideas, educational materials and funding, training, and program opportunities.
  
  SADD contains elements of scientifically grounded prevention principles recognized and endorsed by NIDA (National Institute for Drug Abuse), CSAP (Center for Substance Abuse Prevention), CAPT (Center for the Application of Prevention Technologies), and NIMH (National Institute of Mental Health). As a youth-based prevention organization that begins with and evolves from local-level efforts, SADD is all of the following.
  
  
  • Age appropriate.  SADD’s programming is developmentally appropriate for the age ranges of the student population it serves. SADD’s primary target audience is middle and high school students. SADD’s activities and fund-raisers can be customized for use by all students, including students in college and in elementary school.
  • Culturally appropriate.  SADD offers all youth the opportunity to get involved and lead prevention initiatives in their individual communities. With guidance from the adult advisor and assessment tools provided by SADD National, SADD students determine program needs for their communities and implement strategies that mirror the cultural values of the target youth population in their localities.             
    
  • Long-term.  SADD is available for students throughout their school career, starting in sixth grade and continuing through college. SADD chapters also exist in some elementary schools across the country, and older SADD students serve as mentors for younger children.
  • Cost effective.  SADD is free to all those who want to join. Fund-raising, grants, and donations pay for all programming.
  • Strong in dissemination capability.  With thousands of chapters nationwide, SADD is able to reach millions of youth across the country with prevention messages and programming. The activities of SADD chapters affect school populations, parents, local community organizations, businesses, law enforcement agencies, and the media.

  
  An important element in prevention theory is determining how risk and resiliency factors unify the description of community need and predict a framework for programming.[1]  Risk factors increase vulnerability to substance abuse. Resiliency factors combat risk factors. According to the research, prevention programs must be designed to improve resiliency and protective factors and to move toward reducing known risk factors.[2]  SADD’s prevention strategies reflect these beliefs and can be used to counter the following risk factors.[3] 

  • Family-Based Risk Factors
    
    • Family history of alcoholism and/or other drug use
      
    • Parents involving youths in the parents’ use or misuse of alcohol, tobacco, and/or other drugs (e.g., "Light my cigarette," "Get me a beer")
      
    • Unclear expectations of behavior, lack of monitoring and supervision, inconsistent or harsh discipline, lack of bonding and caring, and conflict between parents/caregivers
      
    • Encouraging or ignoring teen use of alcohol and other drugs
      
    • Parent/caregiver’s use or abuse of alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs
  • Individual–Based Risk Factors
    
    • First use of any substance during early teen years
      
    • Greater influence by and reliance on peers, rather than parents, for advice and guidance
    • Friends who use alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs
  • School-Based Risk Factors
    
    • School policies, rules, and regulations not defined or enforced uniformly
      
    • Transitions between schools (e.g., from elementary school to middle school or from middle school to high school or from high school to college)
  • Community-Based Risk Factors
    
    • Lack of opportunities for youth to become involved with the community
      
    • Easy availability of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs
      
    • Community attitudes, practices, policies, or laws favoring substance use and misuse
      
      
  Concurrently, SADD tailors prevention efforts to foster youth resiliency by:
  
  • Targeting all forms of drug use;
  • Promoting skills to resist drug offers;
  • Building social competency skills;
  • Promoting normative education designed to correct students’ misperceptions about their peers’ drug use;
  • Including a strong parent component;
  • Reaching out to all diverse populations, including children with behavior problems or learning disabilities;
  • Providing interactive methods, such as peer discussion groups;
  • Launching youth media campaigns; and
  • Promoting youth health and safety policy changes.
    
    
• Expansion and Collaboration of Services
  Active and successful SADD chapters often influence the development of new SADD chapters, which helps to increase the number of youths who are exposed to SADD’s youth development initiatives and positive messages. Studies have shown that schools with an active SADD chapter have better informed students who are more aware of the risks of underage drinking, drug use, and impaired driving.[4]
  
  Often, SADD chapters join other youth campaigns promoted by various youth organizations and governing agencies. Many SADD chapters have helped to establish transdisciplinary, multisystemic coalitions in their communities that utilize the resources of their local law enforcement agencies, departments of public health, community mental health centers, school systems, parent communities, businesses, and other active youth agencies.

Summary
SADD chapters serve as a direct link to the heart of a school system and community. Using students themselves as primary agents and meaningful contributors, SADD chapters have become an efficient and effective avenue for quality programming to be implemented in thousands of schools and communities across the country. The SADD National office supports its chapters and develops programming grounded in the most up-to-date concepts, information, and strategies from research and practice. Ultimately, SADD has the potential to lead the youth culture into a new era in which young people passionately embrace their ability and desire to nurture and protect their minds, bodies, spirits, and futures.

 References

• 2000 Annual Summary: Effective Prevention Principles and Programs. Center for Substance Abuse Prevention’s National Center for Advancement of Prevention, Conference Edition, Fall, 2000.
• Bernard, B. "Fostering Resiliency in Kids: Protective Factors in the Family, School and Community." Western Center for Drug-Free Schools and Communities, Far West Laboratory, 1991.
• Bernard, B. "Resiliency Research: A Foundation for Youth Development." Resiliency in Action, Winter, 1997.
• Benson, P. "Connecting Resiliency, Youth Development, and Asset Development in a Positive-Focused Framework for Youth." Resiliency in Action, Winter, 1997.
• Botvin, G. "Prevention Approaches That Work: Life Skills Training." Symposium, Addiction Research Institute, Wayne State University, October, 1995.
• Brooks, R. "Critical Issue: Using Prevention Principles to Develop Comprehensive Services". North Central Regional Educational Laboratory, 1996 www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/envrnmnt/drugfree/sa100.htm (June 29, 2001, pp.1-7).
• Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Education, Department of Justice, & Office of National Drug Control Policy. "Science-Based Substance Abuse Prevention". Draft Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors, June 8, 1999.
• Foundations of Prevention: Care, Knowledge and Practice. Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America, Module 3, 1998, v3.
• Hawkins, J.D., Catalano, R., Miller, J. "Risk and Protective Factors for Alcohol and other Drug Problems in Adolescence and Early Childhood: Implications for Substance Abuse Prevention." Psychological Bulletin, 1992.
• Hawkins, J.D. "Raising Healthy Children: The Communities That Care Approach." Prevention Research and Community Intervention: A Collaborative Conference Involving University Scholars and Community Leaders. University of Michigan, Substance Abuse Research Center, 1998.
• Ohrenberger, K., Harnad, D., Meredith, C. & Charette, K. DMHAS Prevention, Intervention & Training Unit. September 27, 1996.
• Preventing Drug Use Among Children and Adolescents: A Research-Based Guide. National Institute for Drug Abuse, 1997.
• Preusser Research Group, Inc. "Evaluation of Youth Peer-to-Peer Impaired Driving Program." Washington, D.C., U.S. Department of Transportation, 1995.
• Resilience/Protective Factors. NCADI: Prevention Primer. National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information, July 3, 2001, www.health.org/govpubs/PHD627/resfact.htm (pp. 1-3).
• Tinzmann, M.B. & Hixson, J. "What Does Research Say About Prevention?" North Central Regional Educational Laboratory, Oak Brook, 1992, www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/stw_esys/6prevntn.htm
  (June 6, 2001, pp. 1-27).
• Tobler, N. "Meta-Analysis of Adolescent Drug Prevention Programs: Results of the 1993 Meta-Analysis." National Institute on Drug Abuse, Research Monograph 170, 1997.
• United States Department of Education. "Study Confirms Drug Prevention Works." The Challenge 6 (1), pp. 5-7.

 

• [1] 2000 Annual Summary: Effective Prevention Principles and Programs. Center for Substance Abuse Prevention’s National Center for Advancement of Prevention, Conference Edition, Fall, 2000, p. 7.
• [2] Preventing Drug Use Among Children and Adolescents: A Research-Based Guide, pp. i-ii.
• [3] Foundations of Prevention: Care, Knowledge and Practice. Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America, Module 3, 1998.
• [4] Preusser Research Group, Inc.  Evaluation of Youth Peer-to-Peer Impaired Driving Programs.  Washington, D.C.:  U.S. Department of Transportation. 1995. 

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