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10 Conversation Starters to Spark Authentic Classroom Discussions About Drugs and Alcohol - WeAreTeachers. I’m going to be honest with you.

10 Conversation Starters to Spark Authentic Classroom Discussions About Drugs and Alcohol - WeAreTeachers

Talking to middle-school students about the risks of drugs and alcohol is not my favorite thing to do. It’s awkward. It’s challenging. I don’t know what they’re going to say. Frankly, it scares me a little. So, that’s why I talk to my students. Download these free conversation starter cards I use with my eighth graders. 1. Let students share a few stories. 2. Some of the answers you can expect are: peer pressure, escapism, “because it’s fun,” curiosity, or rebellion. 3. You may receive a surprising range of answers to this question, but it will likely provoke an interesting discussion. 4. Your students should be able to come up with a list—everything from “Facetime a friend” to “go out for ice cream.” 5. Your students will know that calling their parents is the accepted answer. 6.

Encourage your class to list all the possible things that could happen after each choice. 7. 8. 9. Buzzed. News from the AOD Collaborative. Videos help conversations with youth about substance use 15 October 2015 A series of short drug information videos are now available to help health professionals, youth workers and family members have conversations with young people about substance use and substance-related harm.

News from the AOD Collaborative

The "Did You Know" series was prompted by findings from the University of Auckland Youth 2012 survey, which found that 11 percent of secondary school students (just over one in every ten) were using substances at a level likely to “cause significant current harm and may cause long term problems.” Of particular concern was the finding that, of those students using at a risky level, two thirds had not had any worries about their substance use. "Reducing substance-related harm for our young people is going to take more than just great services,' notes Ben Birks Ang, National Youth Services Advisor for Odyssey and the New Zealand Drug Foundation, who led the development of the video series.

The "Did you know? " Did You Know? Alcohol HD. Say Yeah, Nah. Not Beersies. Drinking & driving. NZ Transport Agency. Drink-driving continues to be a major problem on New Zealand roads.

NZ Transport Agency

Last year, 71 people died in alcohol-related crashes and 413 people were seriously injured. Young drivers are also still over-represented in drink-driving statistics. NZ Transport Agency. The laws around how much alcohol you can have in your system before you drive changed on 1 December 2014.

NZ Transport Agency

This change affects all drivers aged 20 years and over, but the people most affected are those who have driven for years after a few drinks believing that they’re safe. Years of successfully getting from A to B after drinking at these levels and driving has reinforced their behaviour. But ‘just a few drinks’ is now enough to get caught. Television advertising The target audience Our new campaign targets people who are normally good, law abiding citizens of both genders aged in their 30s and 40s. Stop Before You Start. Drug Information and Facts About the Side Effects of Drugs & Substance Abuse. The Truth About Drugs is a series of thirteen illustrated drug information booklets containing facts about the most commonly abused drugs.

Drug Information and Facts About the Side Effects of Drugs & Substance Abuse

This website contains the full text of these booklets, which were specifically written for young people, but contain facts adults need to know as well. Written in plain language, easy to understand, and available in 22 languages, this information explains the physical and mental effects of drugs on a person. It tells true stories of people who have used drugs and became addicted to them. If someone is trying to push a drug on you, or if you are considering using a drug or are already using it, or if you know someone using drugs, check out this site so you have all the information you need to make an informed decision.

The first segment, entitled The Truth About Drugs, gives a factual and concise overview of exactly what drugs are, how they work and what they do. Each individual drug has its own section with a lot more facts and stories of users. Safe & Sober: Alcohol's effect on teenage brain-animation. Alcohol and teenage peer pressure. Adolescent AlcoholWEB Winter 2012. How Does Alcohol Affect the Brain? Effects of Alcohol on Teenagers. Photo credits: Stockxpert A young person’s body cannot cope with alcohol the same way an adult’s can.

How Does Alcohol Affect the Brain? Effects of Alcohol on Teenagers

Drinking is more harmful to teens than adults because their brains are still developing throughout adolescence and well into young adulthood. Drinking during this critical growth period can lead to lifelong damage in brain function, particularly as it relates to memory, motor skills (ability to move) and coordination. According to research, young people who begin drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence than those who begin drinking at age 21. For some teens, like Samantha, drinking seems to be a solution to problems they don’t want to face. “When I was 13, friends would make fun of me if I didn’t have a drink. “I went out less and less so started losing friends and the more lonely I got, the more I drank.

“I was violent and out of control. Under Construction: Alcohol and the Teenage Brain. Peer pressure and alcohol. Peer pressure and alcohol. Alcohol. Say Yeah, Nah. Not Beersies. Youth alcohol use plummets as parental supply halves. Parents have abandoned in droves the practice of buying alcohol for their underage kids, according to research.

Youth alcohol use plummets as parental supply halves

The dramatic drop-off saw the number of parents supplying drinks halve amid a similarly significant overall reduction in alcohol and cannabis use among young people. Despite this, three quarters of 14-year-olds have had at least a few sips of alcohol. Researchers from the University of Queensland's Centre for Youth Substance Abuse Research crunched the numbers on national drug and alcohol surveys spanning 15 years to arrive at their findings, published last month.

In 2007, 22.4 per cent of underage drinkers sourced their alcohol from parents. By 2013, that number was slashed to 11.8 per cent but parents remained the second-most common source of drinking, only trailing behind friends. Advertisement Psychology PhD candidate Megan Weier, who also worked on the study, said it wasn't possible to say whether the drop in supply from parents led to the drop in consumption. The Wanted - We Own The Night. Pop lyrics encourage young to binge drink: Quarter of chart music lyrics over three-year period mentioned alcohol. Rap, hip hop and R&B were most likely to mention alcoholFour brands of spirits made up more than half of references to labels By Liz Hull for MailOnline Published: 23:49 GMT, 29 August 2013 | Updated: 01:49 GMT, 30 August 2013 Pop songs which refer to alcohol brands could be encouraging young people to binge drink and have sex, experts have warned.

Pop lyrics encourage young to binge drink: Quarter of chart music lyrics over three-year period mentioned alcohol

Almost a quarter of chart music lyrics over a three-year period mentioned booze, analysts said. Four brands of spirits – Patron tequila, Hennessy cognac, Grey Goose vodka, and Jack Daniel’s whiskey – made up more than half of specific references to labels. Drinking From the Bottle (Lyric Video)

Say Yeah, Nah. Main body effects. Effects on the body. Body%20and%20health%20effects MAY2015 web. Say Yeah, Nah. Alcohol and your body.