You may not find it as a stand-alone class in the curriculum, but social and emotional learning is an integral part of education.Social and emotional learning (SEL) means teaching students how to manage their emotions and how to collaborate and empathize with others. Also known as soft skills, character education, and good citizenship, it’s all about getting along with others and knowing oneself, abilities everyone needs to function in a social setting. These skills also help students do better academically.The most popular framework for SEL instruction is the CASEL 5. CASEL is the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning, a group that provides free online instructional resources for SEL. The CASEL 5 are the five SEL core competencies: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. You can find the CASEL Framework Handout here.
This resource for educators provides background information, discussion questions, and a vocabulary glossary as supplemental material.
Each day, America’s teenagers are bombarded with misleading messages about drugs. Glamorized by media and endorsed by peers, the consequences of drug use and experimentation are dangerously disguised, and often hidden altogether. The reality is that drug use can alter a teen’s life forever. That’s why every student should be given the tools to make a decision against using drugs - and the best place to give them those tools is your classroom.
This resource is lesson 11. To access videos and materials: Project Alert.com
This is the Project ALERT kick-off lesson. Activities 1 and 2 establish the tone and set the foundation for an open and supportive classroom environment. In Activity 3, students are motivated to want to resist pressure to use drugs by actively participating in small groups where they list and discuss the reasons why people do and do not use drugs. Comparisons between alcohol and marijuana (Activity 4) demonstrate the great similarity between the reasons for use and nonuse of marijuana and alcohol. The class discussion of the lists and the video "Let’s Talk About Marijuana" in Activity 5 allow for myths to be corrected and for additional information to be added.
This is a long lesson, so pacing is critical. While it is not essential that students know every reason for using or not using drugs, it is essential that wrong information be corrected from the lists.
Young adulthood is a critical time when many people experience mental health issues and significant stress from life transitions like moving from home and beginning college or a career.Seize the Awkward empowers young adults to help friends who are struggling with mental health issues (and who may be at risk for suicide) by encouraging them to consistently start and sustain conversations about mental health with their friends.The new iteration of the campaign, “Whatever Gets You Talking,” showcases the variety of ways young people can start and continue those conversations with their friends, whether that be through a GIF, emoji, call, or text.The campaign drives to SeizeTheAwkward.org, where visitors can explore resources and tools to help them start a conversation with a peer about mental health.
This resource is lesson 2. To access videos and lesson materials go to: https://www.projectalert.com/account
This resource is lesson 3.
This resource is lesson 5. To access videos and lesson materials: https://www.projectalert.com/account
This resource is lesson 6. To access videos and lesson materials: https://www.projectalert.com/account
This resource is lesson 7. To access video resources and lesson materials: https://www.projectalert.com/account
This resource is lesson 8. To access video resources and lesson resources: https://www.projectalert.com/account
This resource is lesson 9. To access video resources and lesson materials: https://www.projectalert.com/account
This article is written for teenagers to understand the dangerous effects of using ecstasy or molly. It discusses the effects on the brain and body, the prevalence of teen use, and what to do if someone needs help.
Each year, NIDA-funded researchers at the University of Michigan survey students in 8th, 10th, and 12th grades on their behaviors and attitudes about substance use. The survey results are released the same year the data are collected. These are the results.
Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) is a chronic relapsing brain disorder characterized by an impaired ability to stop or control alcohol use despite adverse social, occupational, or health consequences. AUD ranges from mild to severe. Underage drinking is drinking alcohol before a person turns age 21, which is the minimum legal drinking age in the United States. Underage drinking is a serious problem, as you may have seen from your friends or your own experiences. Alcohol is the most commonly used substance of use among young people in America, and drinking when you’re underage puts your health and safety at risk.
If you’re in emotional pain and thinking about suicide, the first thing to know is that there are people in your life who care about you and who want to help you feel better.
They may not know the perfect thing to say or do to make a difference, but they can help you find a trained professional with experience in situations like yours. There is immediate help to keep you safe, and there are effective treatments that can help you get better and stay better.
This resource provides resources to help.
A Jeopardy-style game of drug facts.
The Mind Matters series is a valued resource for tens of thousands of teachers. Each booklet is devoted to a specific drug or drug group. Hard copies of the booklets in English can be ordered for free, and both English and Spanish booklets are available online as printable PDFs. The accompanying Teacher’s Guide, which includes background information and activities to enhance students’ learning, is available online in a printable PDF format.
This resource is a collection of animated videos that discuss the effects on the brain and body when using specific types of drugs.
This resource is a test bank of assessment items in True/False, Multiple Choice, and Short Answer formats that are provided for each of the Project ALERT Core (Lessons 1-11). You can choose from these items to create lesson-based assessments, a Project ALERT unit test, and/or for part of a course exam that may include an assessment of the students' success using the Project ALERT curriculum.
This site is a collection of short videos warning viewers of the dangers of drinking and driving. This Buzzed Driving Prevention campaign effort prompts people to examine their own warning signs of impairment and take responsibility for their decisions behind the wheel by reminding them: If you need to do something to make yourself feel okay to drive, you're not okay to drive.
This resource is a series of prompts educators can use to get their students to write about mental health strategies. Teachers could copy the resource and use it as a handout in class or as homework. Teachers could also use select prompts to stimulate class discussion.
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a national network of local crisis centers that provides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They are committed to improving crisis services and advancing suicide prevention by empowering individuals, advancing professional best practices, and building awareness.
This is a resource that teachers can make students aware of in the event that a student needs emotional support.
The resource is informational material about refusal skills from the Resource Center for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention website. The purpose of refusal skills is to give youth the ability to say NO to unwanted sexual advances or risky situations. There are several essential components to an effective refusal or NO statement. Youth need to understand the components that make up an effective NO before they observe or practice the skills.
This alignment results from the ALEX Health/PE COS Resource Alignment Summit.
This resource provides information about the benefits of practicing sexual abstinence provided by UC SANTA CRUZ. People are abstinent for many reasons, including preventing pregnancy. Whether you're thinking about being abstinent, you are abstinent, or you're just someone who's curious about it, you may have many questions.
The resource is informational material about communicating to trusted adults, specifically your parents, about mental health. The information provides strategies on communicating effectively to adolescents parents. The resource is from Mental Health America and gives other resources about mental health. The overview is about how to communicate effectively to parents, but it also includes teachers, relatives, and guidance counselors. This is a great resource on explaining when input from a health professional, counselor, or trusted adult would be helpful.
You could be put in situations where it is important to know some basic skills so that you can survive long enough to be rescued. There are 5 basic survival skills that everyone should know.
It’s been said that in a survival situation you can live 3 weeks without food, 3 days without water, 3 minutes without air, and 3 seconds without a clear mind. This informational material goes over five basic survival skills everyone should know.
Everyone feels sad, depressed, or angry sometimes — especially when dealing with the pressures of school, friends, and family. But some people may feel sadness or hopelessness that just won't go away, and even small problems may seem like too much to handle.
This resource provides information about:
Prescription Drug Safety is an innovative digital course that focuses on high school students, arming them with the knowledge and tools to make healthy, informed decisions. By empowering students with substance abuse prevention education at an early age, we can help the next generation stop opioid abuse.
Through interactive scenarios and self-guided activities, students learn about a range of topics, including the science of addiction, how to properly use and dispose of prescription drugs, and how to intervene when faced with a situation involving drug misuse.
This resource is an entire website dedicated to flavored nicotine and the harmful effects on teenagers. The source has a one minute video that could be displayed at the beginning of the lesson. The resource provides additional information on Flavors, Poison, and Nicotine. The resource includes images of the different types of nicotine flavored products. You can scroll to the bottom of the page and download the 12-page PDF guide to help navigate how to keep kids healthy and nicotine free in the age of a vaping epidemic. The resource could be adapted to help students develop a thoughtful decision-making process in avoiding the use of vaping.
This free video resource from PBS LearningMedia helps educate students on suicide prevention. A Kentucky school’s Sources of Strength (SOS) program uses social networks to help prevent suicide among teens and spread messages of hope and resolve. This video segment is part of You Are Not Alone, a youth mental health series produced by KET. Teachers can use this resource to make students aware that social media can be used as a tool to uplift students.
Sensitive: This resource contains material that may be sensitive for some students. Teachers should exercise discretion in evaluating whether this resource is suitable for their class.
This is a free video resource from PBS LearningMedia about opioid addiction. In this video segment from Understanding the Opioid Epidemic, students will watch the story of Michael Israel and learn how he became addicted to prescription painkillers. In this video, to be used with the program Understanding the Opioid Epidemic, students will explore the misconception of safety associated with prescription opioid painkillers. They will understand the differences between prescription drug use, misuse, and abuse.
In this video segment from Understanding the Opioid Epidemic, students will learn the historical context behind the current opioid epidemic. Prior to the mid-90s, when pharmaceutical companies began telling physicians that opioid pain relievers were safe, the use of opioids to treat pain was limited. Teachers have access to various support materials on this site about the opioid epidemic.
