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Prevention is a comprehensive approach to discouraging alcohol and other drug use that is most effective when it comes from every direction:
- home and family
- school
- community
- social norms
- media
Total prevention is the ideal, but we know that some kids will eventually try alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. The later that happens, the better. Why?
- Because the younger they are, the more physiologically vulnerable children are to addiction.
- Because the older they are when they are first introduced to alcohol and other drugs, the better equipped they will be to evaluate the experience.
These factors make delaying first use a worthwhile objective. Prevention first, delay second.
Protective Factors
When researchers looked for the factors that protect youth from problematic drug and alcohol use they discovered that the most important and powerful factors are:
Understanding the power of those connections, both parents and teachers can focus on creating connectivity by:
- fostering a sense of belonging
- building life skills
- encouraging resiliency
Effective prevention programs focus on developing skills in the following areas:
These life skills empower kids to not only make good decisions about the use of alcohol and other drugs but to deal effectively with other challenges in their lives.
Prevention is about encouraging resiliency in children/teens. Resiliency is another term for that foundation of inner strength that is sometimes referred to as self worth or self esteem. It’s that something that empowers kids to not only make the best decision forthemselves but the courage to act on that decision.
We cannot give our children resiliency but we can create the conditions in which it grows:
- a sense of belonging
- opportunities to build competence
- increasing room to explore their independence
- encouragement to exercise their own generosity
Who contributes to resiliency in children and youth?
Parents, teachers, coaches, neighbours, family – we all do.
The Search Institute has identified 40 developmental assets covering a diverse range of supports, attributes, and activities . Research shows that the more of these assets a child or youth has, the less likely they are to engage in risky behaviours like drug/alcohol use.
Parents, teachers, coaches, neighbours – we ALL have an important role to play in the lives of children and youth. Whether we smile when we walk by, coach a sports team, supervise a teen in their part time job, remark positively on their new tattoo, or call them by their name, it all counts.
The efforts are cumulative and they all contribute towards building those assets that help keep our kids safe.
And the truth is that children and youth are resilient. Most do not get involved in destructive drug/alcohol use. Most kids turn out just fine; a product of their own resiliency and the efforts of every caring person in their lives.
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