Category Archives: Prevention News
Botvin LifeSkills Training builds resilience in Dublin, Ireland, youth
Family Matters ABC and Barnardos Northern Ireland in partnership with local youth services, school completion projects and local schools launched the Botvin Lifeskills programme in Ballyfermot on Thursday 31st May 2018.
Botvin LifeSkills is a highly effective early intervention and prevention programme which prevents risk taking behaviours in children and young people. LifeSkills is a universal programme, designed for whole-class in school delivery. LifeSkills concentrates on a preventative approach which shares age appropriate information with children and young people providing them with the skills, knowledge and attitudes to make healthy choices. LifeSkills has three core parts:
- Self-management skills which help students with problem solving, decision making, critical thinking and how to regulate emotions
- Social competence which involves teaching students how to communicate clearly, make friends and develop healthy relationships.
- Resistance training to help young people develop strategies for resisting peer pressure.
As well as preventing risk taking behaviours, it also leads to important improvements in other skills which are key for healthy development amongst young people. These include self-esteem, emotional regulation, motivation, communication, social skills and ability to cope with stress.
Over the past two years the Lifeskills programme has been delivered in 4th and 5th classes in all primary schools in Ballyfermot and with 1st years students in St. Dominic’s Secondary school. The programme is facilitated by staff from the local youth services, Ballyfermot Youth Service, Cherry Orchard Integrated Youth Services and Familibase as well as the 4 clusters of the School Completion Programme and teachers in each of the Primary schools. A research report outlining the findings from the implementation of the programme was launched this afternoon also. This report highlights that 73% of children participating improved their knowledge of smoking and Lifeskills, 54% improved their attitudes to smoking and alcohol and 57% improved their overall Lifeskills.
Bernie Laverty, Coordinator with Family Matters said “We are all aware through experience and research that alcohol and drugs have impacted negatively on children, young people and families in Ballyfermot over many years. We are delighted to work with the LDATF, all our school communities and youth services in implementing the Lifeskills programme with a firm belief that this will support our young people to make healthier decisions as they transition into adulthood.”
Julie Healy, Head of Programmes in Barnardo’s Northern Ireland said “This research clearly illustrates that LifeSkills has successfully been implemented in Ballyfermot by Family Matters ABC. This paper adds to the already well-evidenced outcomes that LifeSkills is an effective early intervention and prevention programme that prevents children and young people from engaging in risk taking behaviours as well as supporting other healthy development.”
Students Complete CADA LifeSkills Training Program in Bermuda
CADA, along with prevention partners, DNDC and PRIDE, handed out certificates to 81 OHS and Somersfield Academy, students for completing the Botvin LifeSkills Training Program.
CADA spokesperson, Mr. Anthony Santucci stated “LifeSkills Training [LST] is a research-validated substance abuse prevention program, proven to reduce the risks of alcohol, tobacco, drug abuse and violence by targeting the major social and psychological factors that promote the initiation of substance use and other risky behaviors. This comprehensive and exciting program provides adolescents and young teens with the confidence and skills necessary to successfully handle challenging situations.”
Local Schools Address E-cigarettes and Vaping with LifeSkills
Vaping, it seems, is everywhere, and school districts in Washington and Greene counties are educating teachers, parents and students about the dangers of using e-cigarettes and vape pens.
School districts also are updating drug and alcohol policies to keep the devices off school grounds.
In Greene County, Jefferson-Morgan School District Superintendent Joseph Orr said there have been a “handful” of incidents during the 2017-18 school year, and he anticipates incidents to rise as the popularity of the devices increases.
Federal regulations prohibit anyone under the age of 18 from purchasing the devices, but use of e-cigarettes and battery-powered vaporizers among teens – who inhale vapors from nicotine mixed with liquid in flavors including gummy bear, cotton candy and Mountain Dew – has exploded. E-cigarettes and vape pens have become popular with teens over the last few years, but they aren’t safe, according to Pennsylvania Deputy Secretary for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Dr. Loren Robinson.
Smoking the devices “delivers cancer-causing chemicals to the body, and the flavoring used by many teens in these devices appears to be the most dangerous. Normalizing smoking for young adults through e-cigarettes introduces them to a lifetime of addiction,” said Robinson.
E-cigarettes and vape pens are part of a class of devices known as Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems, which also include e-hookahs, e-cigars and e-pipes.
E-cigarettes now come in easily concealed, high-tech designs. One of the most popular e-cigarettes, Juul, resembles a USB storage device and can be charged by plugging it into a USB port. Each Juul cartridge contains as much nicotine as an entire pack of cigarettes.
“Juuls are the new thing. Kids are Juuling now, and you hear about kids Juuling during class,” said Martin. “They look just like a jump drive and a student could have one on the desk and you wouldn’t even know it.”
Pennsylvania high school students consume e-cigarettes at a rate higher than other students across the country. One in every four high school seniors in Pennsylvania reports having used an e-cigarette in a 30-day period, which is 10 percent higher than the national average. More teens used e-cigarettes in Pennsylvania in 2015, according to the 2015 Pennsylvania Youth Survey, than used cigarettes and smokeless tobacco.
Experts are concerned about the impact e-cigarettes have on teens. According to a recent study in the journal Pediatrics, teens who use e-cigarettes are up to three times more likely to have dangerous chemicals in their systems than teens who do not use, including chemicals known to cause cancer.
Teens who use e-cigarettes are also twice as likely to start smoking traditional cigarettes.
The report goes on to say that youth and young adults are also at risk for long-term, long-lasting effects of exposing their developing brains to nicotine, including nicotine addiction, mood disorders and permanent lowering of impulse control.
LifeSkills in the Classroom: CFR Teaches Drug Abuse Prevention
As children make their way through school, there’s a strong chance that a local treatment center has educated them about the dangers of drug abuse, including opioid abuse.
Community and Family Resources, with the help of a grant, visits area schools and offers a variety of programs for the students to educate them about drug abuse.
Corey Keller, a prevention specialist with CFR, is one of the people who visits the classrooms.
The Comprehensive Substance Abuse Prevention Grant, which is provided through the Iowa Department of Public Health, allows for the programs to happen.
“One of the big things we do is we implement evidence-based curriculum in schools,” she said. “And we can do a couple different curriculums.”
-Messenger photo by Peter Kaspari
Radney Roosa, who teaches LifeSkills programming at Fort Dodge Middle School, asks his class to fill out a list of positive behaviors during a recent class session.
LifeSkills Training is a program that is presented to seventh-graders at Fort Dodge Middle School, and is held in conjunction with the students’ health classes.
“It’s a 15-session curriculum that is not only drug prevention, but also violence prevention, goal-setting, decision-making, assertiveness,” she said. “It’s kind of those behavior strategies, too.”
Keller said students seem to enjoy participating in both programs.
And she said evidence shows that the programs are working.
For LifeSkills Training, Keller said last year, the class had a section dedicated to opioid abuse and prescription drug abuse.
She added that the class will also use real-life news stories in the class, which she said helps drive the point home about what’s going on with drug abuse.
“The kids have responded really well to that,” she said.
Fort Dodge Middle School Principal Ryan Flaherty said Life Skills is also a very important program for middle-schoolers in particular.
“We know that the middle school years are super important for the development of kids in which they’ll be making lots of decisions, facing lots of pressures to do certain things,” Flaherty said. “And we believe our greatest tool to help students make the right decision is education. Instead of reacting when things go wrong, we want to promote healthy lifestyles, educate students and give them the skills to make healthy decisions when they’re faced with those as they grow up.”
He added that the students have benefited from the program.
“I think our students want the information and I think they want the ability to do the right thing,” he said. “Proper education gives them the ability to do that.”
CFR provides all the materials itself, according to Keller. The school district doesn’t have to pay anything.
“We’re not training the teachers to do it,” she said. “We’re actually doing it and teaching the curriculum.”
All the teachers do is schedule the time for CFR to come in and decide which grades they want to be educated about drug and substance abuse.
“A lot of times it’s fourth and sixth grade,” Keller said. “In Webster (County), that’s where we’re currently implementing it.”
She added that CFR is always interested in coming to speak at schools if teachers are interested.
“If there is a specific topic that any teacher, administrator wants to hear more about, whether it’s e-cigarettes or marijuana concentrates or mixing alcohol and energy drinks,” she said, “we’re willing to come in and present.”