NCJ Number
172402
Journal
Profile Volume: 5 Issue: 2 Dated: (September 1992) Pages: complete issue
Date Published
1992
Length
4 pages
Annotation
A drug prevention and education program called Pupils, Lawyers, And Nurses (PLAN) Against Drugs uses four day-long sessions in consecutive weeks to teach fifth- and sixth-grade students in Bronx County (N.Y.) the legal and medical consequences of involvement with drugs.
Abstract
PLAN is cosponsored by the Bronx District Attorney's Office and the Lehman College School of Nursing. It aims to provide students with positive role models from the fields of nursing and law, to offer information regarding the availability of careers in each profession, and to let students observe nurses and attorneys at work in hospitals and courtrooms. The sessions include an initial classroom discussion, video, and role-playing; a field trip to a local hospital to view healthy and addicted newborns; another field trip to witness a drug trial in progress; and a moot court case in the classroom. The students take tests about drugs and drug effects at the program's start and end. The participating nurses and assistant district attorneys volunteer for their positions and are trained by shadowing other volunteers during a 4-week session. PLAN staff chose fifth- and sixth-grade students because they considered children in this age group to be impressionable and yet able to deal with the intensity of the experiences provided. Supplies and costs associated with staff volunteer time are funded with asset forfeiture money seized from drug dealers in Bronx County and dispersed by the New York State Division of Substance Abuse Services. The program served about 420 students during the most recent school year. Photographs