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.
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 4. To access videos and lesson materials: https://www.projectalert.com/account
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.
Methamphetamine—known as “meth”— is a laboratory-made, white, bitter-tasting powder. Sometimes it's made into a white pill or a shiny, white, or clear rock called crystal. Methamphetamine use can quickly lead to addiction. That’s when people seek out the drug over and over, even after they want to stop and even after it has caused damage to their health and other parts of their life.
This resource is a quiz on knowledge of drugs and alcohol. There are two formats for this quiz- an online quiz and a downloadable PDF document.
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 resource includes several videos and graphics about the importance of wearing a bicycle helmet and how to create a proper fit. These videos can be displayed during a class session and the graphics can be used to stem class discussion or can be printed to be displayed in the gym or bulletin board.
This lesson helps young people understand the basic concepts of concussions. Youth will discuss brain injuries and complete a KWL chart (already Know, Want to know, what I Learned) to list facts about concussions. A hands-on learning activity gives young people a chance to experience what living with a brain injury may be like. Finally, the youth will reflect on what they learned about brain injuries and how to prevent them.
Before starting the activity, be sure to discuss with your group the dangers of tobacco use and the effects of the tobacco industry’s presence in the retail environment. Use the following as a guide. Refer to CounterTobacco.org for additional interactive materials to help set the stage of the problem.
While pro football has begun to confront the consequences of concussions, a new report is putting the spotlight on younger athletes. Athletes of all ages need to understand the dangers and impacts of a concussion injury. This video can be played when teaching a lesson on the risk of head injuries.
You might think that only some types of people can get addicted to drugs. The truth is, it can happen to anyone, whether you're young or old, rich or poor, male or female. This video from NIDA explains addiction in simple terms and offers a hotline to help you or a loved one find treatment.
This resource is an animated video from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) which explains addiction in simple terms. Quitting drugs is hard because addiction is a brain disease. Your brain is like a control tower that sends out signals to direct your actions and choices. Addiction changes the signals in your brain and makes it hard to feel OK without the drug. Watch the video for a visualization of these concepts and for information on how to get yourself or a loved one help.
This free resource from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention teaches students the effects of tobacco use on the body. In this lesson, students conduct an experiment that demonstrates what goes into a person’s lungs with each puff of a cigarette. Then, students will view an interactive Web animation that gives a 360-degree view of the organs in the human body and an explanation of how tobacco use affects each organ.
This alignment results from the ALEX Health/PE COS Resource Alignment Summit.
Smokeless tobacco doesn't mean harmless. Chewing tobacco can cause cancer and other problems, just like smoking cigarettes. There's no such thing as a "safe" tobacco product. This resource offers a thorough overview of smokeless tobacco and helps educators convey the following messages to students in middle grades: why people use smokeless tobacco, dangers of using smokeless tobacco, and how you can quit using smokeless tobacco.