Drug and Violence Prevention Introduction

Drug and substance abuse has been prevalent in most learning institutions. Increased use of alcohol, marijuana and tobacco has also been attributed to increased cases of violence in most schools. It is for this reason that most learning institutions have taken an initiative of ensuring that drugs and substance abuse is reduced in these institutions. Apart from the usual school curriculum, these learning institutions have found it essential to teach social development and normative education to build protective factors and mitigate factors of substance abuse. There have been also commercial programs aimed at violence prevention and substance abuse among the school going youths. All these programs have their strengths and limitations as we shall discuss in the chapter. It is also imperative for the schools to make informed choices on what kind of program is best suited for certain conditions. Following is an evaluation of the different programs;

Life-skills training (LST)

This is a typical school-based program aimed at prevention of violence and drug and substance abuse among middle and junior high school students. The program is known to incorporate age-appropriate and culturally relevant information. Discussions and other structured activities are also common in such educational programs. During these classes, students are taught essential self-management skills, social skills and drug awareness and resistance skills. Aspects of social influence and competence enhancement models are of significance importance in LST (Bostic and Bagnell, 2012). The sessions provide crucial information in life transitions that adolescents and young teenagers face. After the training, students are expected to be able to learn in a drug and violence free environment.

Life skill training programs have been effective in drug and violence prevention in schools. The primary strength associated with LST is its ability to instill information on the dire consequences of substance abuse. It offers an interactive session where discussions and other structured activities help sinking the information further.

Although the programs are quite expensive, it has been proved that drug abuse and violence cases have declined in schools where such programs exist. It is also imperative to understand that LST has brought about the positive effect of the cognitive, attitudinal and personality factors that play a part in substance use among teenagers (Durlak). Life training skills can be more successful when applied to schools where there are increased cases of drug addiction. This is because it will give a chance to drug addicts understanding the likely consequences of their unbecoming behavior. LST is also known to increase academic performance among the students as well as cultivate anger management and conflict resolution skills.

Get Real About Violence (GRAV)

This is another crucial program aimed at reducing violence in schools. The program addresses bullying and teasing at all levels. GRAV aims at reducing verbal and physical aggression among students in learning institutions. The program gives an insight to children on how to stay safe. Children are equipped with skills to help them have a positive interaction with others and communicate emotions effectively (Bostic and Bagnell, 2012). It is based on the premise that young children will engage in violent behaviors when they are continually exposed to attitudes that promote violence.

Its main strength is that it addresses students on how to be safe in their learning institutions. The program promotes a non-violent relationship between adults and students through changing violent norms and improving communication among students. Students are taught on how to avoid violent situations and ways of resolving conflicts peacefully. Topics such as behavior management, youth development and school climate and culture are also incorporated to increase the effectiveness of the program.

The program has been very instrumental in providing a violent free environment in learning institutions. GRAV helps in identifying problematic behaviors early enough and recommend on positive attitudes (DiClemente, Santelli and Crosby, 2009). It is a conclusive program that deals with non-violent situations. It is, however, worth noting that the issue of drug and substance abuse is accorded little attention in this program. The program can be of great success if applied in high schools where bullying and teasing are typical.

QUEST

The urge to have safe and drug-free learning environments is unstoppable. As a result, Quest is another important prevention and intervention program adopted in different schools. This is a youth development program that promotes social and emotional learning. The program’s main objectives are bullying prevention, character education, service learning and drug awareness among the learning population. Quest programs are age-appropriate where there are three distinct skills namely as growing skills, skills for adolescents and skills for action. It ensures a safe, drug-free and well-managed learning environment for the students.

The primary strength associated with QUEST is its ability to help the young people deal with emotions constructively, set positive goals and make responsible choices. The instilled skills enable the youths to live drug-free and violent free lives (Bostic and Bagnell, 2012). Quest ensures character development, civic values and bullying and violence prevention. It is also imperative to note that the programs are very flexible and can easily be integrated into the standard school curriculum.

Apart from the reduced violence and drug abuse cases, it has also been noted that academic achievements have also increased substantially. Cases of school dropout and indiscipline cases among the students have also declined significantly where this program has been effectively applied. Quest program has encouraged community and parents involvement thus realizing desired results. Effective use of the program can result in reduced drug and violent incidences in schools as well as increased interpersonal skills.

Fatal Vision

Fatal Vision program is another important program for drug and violence prevention in schools. The program was developed as a result of continuous police involvement in solving drug and substance abuse cases in schools. Fatal vision goggles were introduced to help students understand how alcoholism and other substances can lead to impaired vision. By wearing the goggles, students would get the real picture of the impairments and the likely dangers associated with drug abuse.

The underlying principle of the fatal vision program is to prove how quickly impairment can turn to devastating consequences. This is one of the strengths associated with this program since the wearer of the goggles gets first-hand information. The program also helps in cultivating decision-making skills as well as recognizes the legal physical and emotion risks associated with underage drinking.

Nevertheless, the program has some limitations that may lower its effectiveness. For instance, the program is very expensive to enroll since the goggles used require capital. Schools will also require hiring trained personnel that increasing the costs further.  The program also concentrates too much on drug prevention and fails to address the critical issue of violence prevention in schools (Seifert, Ray and Schmidt). Use of police officers to run the program may instill fear among the students thus making it difficult for them to raise significant issues of concern. It is also imperative to note that other important development and social skills taught in other programs are missing in action.

STARS

All STARS is another school based program used in the prevention of violence and substance abuse. It is prevalent in middle schools where students are aged between 11—14 years. The objective of the program is to ensure delay or prevent the onset of high-risk behaviors such as drug abuse, sexuality and violence among young adolescents. The program provides lessons that offer prevention techniques for the youths to withstand temptations to high-risk behaviors. The youths are also sensitized to the importance of self-esteem and why they should avoid certain behaviors.

Outstanding topical issues such as why people engage in drug abuse, peer influence, and anger management are taught during this program. Interpersonal skills and cultural awareness also forms another important part of the program. Apart from the class lessons, students are also encouraged to venture in group discussions as well as other structured group activities and games. There are also instances where celebrations are encouraged making the program vivacious.

One of the major strength of this program is that it tries to prevent rather than cure the violence and substance abuse menace. Parents are also introduced to these classes to ensure that they understand signs and warnings of drug abuse before the problem escalates(Seifert, Ray and Schmidt). The program also teaches decision making, peer pressure resistance and goal setting among others. It has been noted that the program has resulted in increased academic performance as well as improved health standards among the youth. In my opinion, I suggest that this is the best program to introduce to all schools such that the problem of violence and drug abuse is dealt with earliest possible.

Work cited

Bostic, Jeffrey Q, and Alexa L Bagnell. Evidence-Based School Psychiatry. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders, 2012. Print.

DiClemente, Ralph J, John S Santelli, and Richard A Crosby. Adolescent Health. San Francisco, Calif.: Jossey-Bass, 2009. Print.

Durlak, Joseph Allen. Handbook Of Social And Emotional Learning. New York, NY: Guilford Pr., 2015. Print.

Seifert, Kathryn, Karen Ray, and Robert Schmidt. Youth Violence. New York: Springer Pub. Co., 2012. Print.

 
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