Important! Please read below for curriculum instructions!!!
LifeSkills Training is a program that
seeks to influence major social and psychological factors that promote
the initiation and early use of substances. LifeSkills has distinct
elementary (8 to 11 years old) and middle school (11 to 14 years old)
curricula that are delivered in a series of classroom sessions over 3
years. The sessions use lecture, discussion, coaching, and practice to
enhance students’ self-esteem, feelings of self-efficacy, ability to
make decisions, and ability to resist peer and media pressure.
LifeSkills
consists of three major components that address critical domains found
to promote substance use. Research has shown that students who develop
skills in these three domains are far less likely to engage in a wide
range of high-risk behaviors. The three components each focus on
a different set of skills:
*Drug Resistance Skills enable
young people to recognize and challenge common misconceptions about
substance use, as well as deal with peers and media pressure to engage
in substance use.
* Personal Self-Management Skills help
students to examine their self-image and its effects on behavior, set
goals and keep track of personal progress, identify everyday decisions
and how they may be influenced by others, analyze problem situations,
and consider the consequences of alternative solutions before making
decisions.
* General Social Skills give students the necessary
skills to overcome shyness, communicate effectively and avoid
misunderstandings, use both verbal and nonverbal assertiveness skills
to make or refuse requests, and recognize that they have choices other
than aggression or passivity when faced with tough situations.