TEACHER RESOURCES

Vaping

Stanford Tobacco Toolkit - The Tobacco Prevention Toolkit is a free educational resource that can be adapted to fit the individual needs of educators and students in all types of settings, including elementary, middle and high schools; community-based organizations; and health-related agencies. The toolkit includes activities, discussion guides, fact sheets, crash courses, kahoot quizzes and powerpoint presentations.

Catch My Breath - CATCH collaborated with researchers at Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health to create CATCH My Breath™, a youth e-cigarette, vape, JUUL, and vape prevention program specific to grades 5-12.

Vaping Cessation - The Stand Project pulled the most recent quit programs together with the Guidance of Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Visit the resource page here.

Alcohol

Alcohol Myths vs. Facts - Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration

Ask, Listen Learn - How Alcohol Affects the Brain - a completely free digital underage drinking prevention program for kids ages 9-13 (grades 4-7) and their parents and educators with the goal to reduce underage drinking. The information provided throughout the program guides adults with ways to start communicating with kids about alcohol and the developing brain– and how to continue talking to them as part of a lifetime of conversations. Both science and evidence-based, Ask, Listen, Learn is the most widely distributed underage drinking program of its kind.

Brain Power Grades 6-9 - This free program offers an interactive science education program for students in grades 6–9 about the brain and the effects of drugs on the body. Includes six modules, resources for students, parent guides, and online activities.

AlcoholFX Mobile App - Alcohol’s Effects on the Brain (AlcoholFX) is a free, science-based app that teaches students ages 10 to 12 how alcohol can harm their brains if they drink. Based on lesson plans from SAMHSA’s Reach Out Now Initiative, the app can easily integrate with instruction in 5th- and 6th-grade classrooms. This app is only available on tablets.

EVERFI AlcoholEdu High School Prevention - Drinking in high school doesn’t just put students at risk; it threatens the ability of schools to achieve their educational objectives. AlcoholEdu® for High School is free and takes a public health approach to alcohol education in schools, incorporating evidence-based prevention methods to create meaningful results. Through this scalable online program, which has been proven to reduce negative consequences associated with underage drinking, schools can reach all students with a consistent message and empower them to make safer and healthier decisions about alcohol.

Marijuana

NIDA for Teens Marijuana Prevention - Resources for teens and teachers about marijuana including fact sheets, videos, games and more.

Letter to Teens about Marijuana Facts - From Dr. Nora Volkow gives the straight facts on marijuana so teens can make smart choices and be their best self.

Mind Matters Marijuana - A visually appealing booklet for students that explains how marijuana changes the way the communication centers in the brain work and ultimately cause their effects. Formerly referred to as Mind Over Matters, this booklet is part of a series focused on easy-to-understand scientific facts. For a limited time, both the Mind Over Matters and Mind Matters series will be available to order or access online.

Prescription Medication

Generation Rx - This free website provides educational resources to help prevent the misuse of prescription medications and is provided through a partnership between The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy and the Cardinal Health Foundation.

EVERFI Prescription Drug Safety - Prescription Drug Safety is an innovative free digital course that focuses on high school students, arming them with the knowledge and tools to make healthy, informed decisions. By empowering students with substance abuse prevention education at an early age, we can help the next generation stop opioid abuse.

Illicit Drugs

Mind Matters (National Institute on Drug Abuse) - This free program focuses on easy-to-understand scientific facts about various drugs including anabolic steroids, cocaine, hallucinogens, inhalants, methamphetamine, opioids, marijuana and nicotine.

Above the Influence - From Adderall to Xanax this site covers what each drug is, including the risks and long-term effects of use.

Protective Factors

School Connectedness - The belief held by students that adults and peers in the school care about their learning as well as about them as individuals—is an important protective factor. Research has shown that young people who feel connected to their school are less likely to engage in many risk behaviors, including early sexual initiation, alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use, and violence. Students who feel connected to their school are also more likely to have better academic achievement, including higher grades and test scores, have better school attendance, and stay in school longer. Learn what teachers can do to promote school connectedness.

Parent Engagement - Parents and school staff working together to support and improve the learning, development, and health of children and adolescents. Parent engagement in schools is a shared responsibility in which schools and other community agencies and organizations are committed to reaching out to engage parents in meaningful ways, and parents are committed to actively supporting their children’s and adolescents’ learning and development. This relationship between schools and parents cuts across and reinforces children’s health and learning in multiple settings—at home, in school, in out-of-school programs, and in the community. Research shows that parent engagement in schools is closely linked to better student behavior, higher academic achievement, and enhanced social skills. Parent engagement also makes it more likely that children and adolescents will avoid unhealthy behaviors, such as sexual risk behaviors and tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use. Learn how teachers can promote Parent engagement.

Social Emotional Learning

EVERFI SEL Resources - Free resources designed to equip educators with tools to nurture skills like compassion, leadership, conflict resolution, self-awareness, and resilience.

Botvin Lifeskills - is a research-validated substance abuse prevention program proven to reduce the risks of alcohol, tobacco, drug abuse, and violence by targeting the major social and psychological factors that promote the initiation of substance use and other risky behaviors.

The HOPE Curriculum - a free K-12 curriculum developed for schools to meet the requirements of House Bill 367. The HOPE curriculum is a series of lessons, assessments and learning materials to develop students’ functional knowledge, attitudes and necessary skills to prevent drug abuse. The lessons are designed to be part of a larger substance abuse prevention unit within a school’s health education curriculum. The middle and high school lessons are designed for a licensed health education teacher to implement within a health education class. The elementary curriculum is designed for a classroom teacher to implement in 20-minute lessons that are aligned with the English Language Arts Standards.

DBT Steps - Skills Training for Emotional Problem Solving for Adolescents (STEPS-A) is a universal social emotional learning (SEL) curriculum designed for middle and high school students in educational settings. The DBT STEPS-A curriculum is designed to help adolescents develop coping strategies and decision-making abilities, especially under emotional distress. The DBT STEPS-A curriculum is based on the skills components of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) that have been shown to be effective with both adults and adolescents experiencing mild to severe levels of emotional and behavioral difficulties.

PAX Good Behavior Game - Promotes social and emotional learning in all students. By engaging students in co-creating expectations and developing shared relational frames, children can begin to recognize their own thoughts and feelings as well as regulate their own emotions and behaviors. PAX also improves awareness for the needs of others and helps to improve peer support by developing and maintaining positive relationships with others. All this helps children to regulate their own behavior and choices in order to live peaceful, productive, healthy, and happy lives.

Second Step Program - Program rooted in social-emotional learning (SEL) that helps transform schools into supportive, successful learning environments uniquely equipped to help children thrive.