FCD High School Four-Day Course

The interests, needs, and life experiences of children and adolescents with regard to alcohol and other drug use change dramatically from age five to 18. Drug education is similar to sexuality education in that students absorb it and relate to it according to their social, emotional, cognitive, and physical maturity. A lot of the basic "facts" need to be repeated as the content becomes more relevant to the child's stage of development and behavior. By high school, many students will have experienced much of what was discussed in earlier years, either personally or through friends and loved ones. But now they will challenge and question what they hear, and be capable of higher levels of debate, understanding and abstraction. As a result, students who have had drug education programs in elementary and middle school continue to benefit from ongoing exposure to information and discussion opportunities as high school students.

The use or non-use of alcohol and other drugs affects virtually all of a teen's relationships: to parents, siblings, and friends; school, work, and play; mind, mood, and body; conscience and confidence; integrity and aspiration; to how they perceive their past and their future; to their emotional, intellectual, and spiritual lives.

The quality of these relationships is an indicator of the health of an individual, and where he or she stands along the continuum of risk and protective factors. Young people passionate about life, with strong connections to family, school, and community, are less likely to use or abuse alcohol or other drugs than are students with weak or dysfunctional connections. Indeed, one can think of "problem use" as use that creates a negative impact on a teen's relationships.

Thus, the hung-over student who is unreliable, who misses school or falls asleep in class, harms his or her relationships to teachers, school life, and future success. The lies and deception that go hand in hand with use are likely to damage a teen's sense of self-worth, and family and peer relationships. Use damages relationships, and broken or unhealthy relationships increase the likelihood of use. This negatively reinforcing cycle can be a powerful engine in propelling a teen from experimentation to use to abuse to dependency to addiction. This construct—the impact of use on relationships, and the impact of relationships on use—offers a provocative and relevant entry point for examining the effects of alcohol and other drugs on the growing adolescent. It lies at the heart of the FCD Four-Day Course for High School Students.

The course is driven by discussion. Students receive articles and other reading material on the first day, and a high level of participation is generated throughout the four days. As the course progresses, participants move from the "macro" to the "micro," from relationships between the individual and the larger culture, to relationships with family, friends, and community, to the most personal relationships of all—those of the individual to his or her own feelings, identity, and future.

Seminar 1: Use and Culture
"How Drugs Affect Our Relationships with the World"

Why and How People Use: A Historical, Cultural, and Geographic Perspective
The Impact of Environment on Use and Non-Use
Social Norms: True and False Perceptions
Media Literacy: How Advertising, Entertainment, Pop Culture, Sports and Celebrities Affect Use
Art, Music, and Literature: Promoting Use or Reflecting It?
Mixed Messages: How Society Condones and Condemns Use
Drugs and the Law: Legalization Issues, Drinking Ages, Drinking and Driving

Seminar 2: Use and Community
"How Drugs Affect Our Relationships with School, Family and Friends"

Addiction and the Family
Friends: Helping and Hurting
Denial, Enabling and Codependency
Intervention: Recognizing Problem Use and Knowing How to Help
Romance, Dating and Drugs
Peer Pressure and Social Skills
Normative Beliefs: When Perception Becomes Reality
Drugs and Parenting
Dealing with Substance Abuse Related Emergencies
Helping Resources

Seminar 3: Use and the Individual—Part I
"How Drugs Affect Our Relationships to Our Physical Self"

Basic Drug Information: Alcohol/Tobacco/Marijuana/Caffeine/Club Drugs/Prescription Drugs/Over-the-Counter Drugs
Brain-Body Chemistry/Physiological and Psychological Effects
Progression: Use/Abuse/Dependency/Addiction
Addiction, Progression, and Recovery: A Personal Perspective
Risk and Protective Factors
Drugs and Academics and Physical Performance

Seminar 4: Use and the Individual—Part II
"How Drugs Affect Our Relationships to Our Inner Self"

Drug Information Continued
Interrelationships of Drugs and Maturity, Self-Esteem, Values, Character, Integrity, Conscience and Spirituality
Drugs and Sexuality
Drugs and Goal Setting/Motivation/Depression
Stress Management
Self-Assessment Tools
Harm Reduction
Natural Highs