Drug Prevention Empowers Students To Say No

An ambulance waits outside of Coronado Middle School. Pizza boxes and beer cans litter the sixth-grade science classroom. Students are staggering around the field. Teachers and staff are somber and serious, and the student body is subdued and quiet. It sounds like a nightmare unfolding. Thankfully, this is not the terrifying scene of an actual emergency. This is the choreographed Drug Prevention Program running at full speed for all sixth-grade students in Coronado.

Every year, Safe Harbor Coronado collaborates with Coronado Middle School, Sacred Heart Parish School, Christ Church Day School, and countless community volunteers to immerse all sixth-grade students in an experiential program highlighting the dangers of substance use and abuse and providing a robust drug prevention curriculum. The four-hour program breaks the sixth graders into small groups and each group takes turns navigating different scenes and stations that use different techniques to educate students about the dangers of substances and empowering them with the knowledge and skills to resist the temptation.

Arguably the most impactful aspect of the program are the scenes. These are a series of skits that put students in the middle of a peer’s big decisions. The actors in the skits are fellow sixth grade students and their parents, high school students, Coronado Police, Fire and EMT services, plus hospital staff. The groups follow a fellow sixth grade student as they navigate being offered a vape in school and attending a party. At first, the student is able to resist the temptation to try vaping when offered, demonstrating strong refusal skills. But later, they cave to the pressure, ingest a proffered substance, and fall the floor convulsing. The party goers are forced to decide how to react. Paramedics arrive and rush the unresponsive student to the hospital. From here, students watch as parents arrive and receive the terrifying news of an overdose with an unknown prognosis. To watch a fellow student and their parents face the unknown because of one bad choice elicits extreme emotions and makes the skit feel real. It is a poignant journey of an alltoo-common scenario in schools across America, and one that students take to heart.

Following the skits, students rotate through stations that provide further substance use and abuse education, prevention strategies, and opportunities to debrief the skits. Stations are designed using different learning modalities and evidencebased techniques that reach a multitude of learning styles. The goal is to capture all students, keep them engaged, and make them think deeply about their choices. They include peer-to-peer and clinician led question and answer sessions, a discussion with a pharmacist, presentations from health care professionals, an opportunity to practice refusal skills, and a chance to practice positive emotional coping skills. Two of the most hands-on activities highlight how the body reacts to substances. The first simulates the negative longterm effects of substances on the body as students must exercise while only breathing through a straw. The second simulates what it feels like to operate while intoxicated by using ‘drunk goggles’ provided by Coronado Police Department.

Together, the skits and stations provide a powerful morning of engagement, education, real world experience and support. This experience leaves many feeling emotional yet educated and empowered. Still, some questions may remain. A followup question-and-answer session with a panel of participants is hosted the following evening for community parents. The panel includes a clinician, high school students, health care professionals, local police, and Safe Harbor Coronado Staff. This allows for clarification on difficult topics and an opportunity to follow up with deeper questions and conversations, which in turn, creates deeper understanding about what is most important to our community around this topic.

The Drug Prevention Program is an immersive program designed to have a lasting impact on kids and help guide positive life choices. By creating real-world scenarios and hands on activities, students get the opportunity to practice and prepare for the future. Unfortunately, substances including drugs and alcohol are present in our community and accessible by our young people. The Drug Prevention Program is one way we can help our kids grow in their skills, provide supports and resources early, and help set them up for a lifetime of success by helping them make better choices for their mind and body as they grow.

Safe Harbor Coronado provides low-cost counseling, youth and parenting programs, and community education. For more information go to SafeHarborCoronado.org, sign up for the e-newsletter, and follow us on social media @ SafeHarborCoronado to make sure you never miss a Safe Harbor Coronado event!

Photos courtesy of Hailey Seelig Photography