Start Taking Alcohol Risks Seriously (STARS) for Families is a school-based health promotion program that aims to prevent or reduce alcohol use among middle school youth ages 11 to 14 years. STARS for Families has three components. Youth receive individual consultations about alcohol use, parents and guardians receive information at home on how to talk to their children about alcohol, and families complete take-home lessons together designed to enhance communication. The overall goal is abstinence from or delayed initiation of the use of alcohol.
Project Northland
Project Northland is a school- and community-based multilevel prevention program for adolescents in grades 6-8. Lesson content involves students, peers, parents, and community members with home-based curriculum for families and peer- and teacher-led curriculum in the classroom. Student-parent homework assignments, in-class discussions, skills training, and role-plays, and community-based projects comprise the program. The overall goals are to delay the age at which adolescents begin driving, reduce alcohol use among those already drinking, and limit the number of alcohol-related problems among young drinkers.
Drugs: True Stories
Drugs: True Stories is a multimedia drug prevention program that can be used in home, school, or community settings. Youth in grades 5-12 and their parents hear personal stories about drug use and learn how they can work together to promote abstinence. The video is accompanied by a discussion guide, which is designed to provoke candid conversation regarding drug use and offers questions for those who are participating in the program. The intervention can be delivered in its entirety or in segments (e.g., three 50-minute sessions). The overall goal is abstinence from substance use and reduced intention to use.
Family Matters
Family Matters is a home-based substance use prevention program designed for youth ages 12 to 14 and their families. Through mailed booklets and telephone consultations with a health educator, families learn to communicate about tobacco and alcohol use, media/peer influences, and general family characteristics and rules. The overall goal is delayed onset or abstinence from alcohol and cigarettes.
Keep a Clear Mind
Keep a Clear Mind (KACM) is a take-home drug education program for youth ages 9 to 11 and their parents. The four lessons are: alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and tools to avoid drug use. Children receive incentives for completion of the lessons and parents receive support and resources through a newsletter and a program facilitator. The overall goal is to help children develop specific skills to refuse and avoid use of “gateway” drugs.
