Youth Preventing Drug Abuse

• NCJ Number: 171124
• Date Published: December 1998
• Length: 8 pages
• Publication Series: OJJDP Youth in Action Series
• Agencies: OJJDP

Annotation

This bulletin presents ideas on how youth can develop a drug prevention project to educate children, youth, and adults about the dangers of illegal drugs; provide skills to help people refuse drugs; develop peer and community support for drug-free lifestyles; help people find drug treatment programs; or reclaim public areas frequented by drug dealers.

Abstract

The four steps involved in developing a project are to learn about the drug problem in the neighborhood or community; examine the group's skills, time availability, and other resources; determine the kind of drug prevention project to conduct; and plan the project. The planning process includes developing clear and realistic objectives, defining specific tasks for each objectives, identifying local partners who can help with the project, and recruit at least one adult who is knowledgeable about the topic to work with the youth group. Possible activities include providing information to peers, creating an anonymous reporting system in the school, compiling a list of local drug treatment programs, obtaining training to be a peer counseling, and organizing youth events. Ways to sustain the project include adding resources for each new activity, training and thanking all volunteers, and periodically evaluating the activities. List of resource organizations