Early Start : A Complex Learning Process: Developing Strength to Say No

A good self-image and strong decision-making skills are a student’s best defenses against drugs, say educators involved in planning drug education programs in South Bay schools.

But like other basic personal skills, the educators say, the ability to say no to drugs--often in the face of intense peer pressure--must be learned, starting at an early age.

And the nurturing of a sense of self-worth, which gives youngsters the confidence to tackle life’s problems without a boost from drugs and alcohol, is a complex process involving many influences outside the schools, the educators say.

“We must involve parents, the community, churches--all of the social support systems that affect a child’s ability to resist drugs,” said Beth Lundy, the new coordinator of drug programs in the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District.

Many communities already have the means to accomplish that goal through a variety of volunteer organizations, Lundy said. However, she said, the effort tends to be fragmented and sporadic until some agency or individual takes the lead in bringing all of the groups together for a united, coordinated attack on drugs.

Jane St. John, an administrator in the Lennox Elementary School District, said an early start is one of the most important factors in training children to resist drugs. She said her district’s program begins in the fourth grade and then proceeds sequentially through the higher levels.

“The research shows that the fourth, fifth and sixth grades are a crucial period in developing the basic attitudes and self-image that the kids need to resist peer pressure,” St. John said. “There’s also some evidence that the training should start as early as kindergarten, and so we would like to move in that direction as soon as we can.”

St. John said the Lennox program, incorporated in weekly health classes, briefly covers the facts about drugs and then goes on to how people make decisions.

“In one sequence, we might have a video about a girl who is tempted by her peers to do something really daring, like trying to run across the street without getting hit by a car,” she said. “Then we would have a discussion on a situation like that and get the kids to express their own ideas and feelings.

Questions for Students

“Would you jump in front of a car if other kids told you to do it? If you refused, what would they say? Would that make you feel bad about yourself?”

The objective, St. John said, is to encourage the children to arrive at their own conclusions on what is right and wrong for them.

“Telling children that drug abuse is wrong or harmful is not enough,” she said. “We must present them again and again with situations in which they can practice decision-making skills and see the relationship between choices and consequences.

“Then when they face a real-life decision, such as whether to say no to drugs, they will be better equipped to make a conscious choice, instead of just reacting to pressure.”

No Statistics

St. John said the district has no statistics yet on the effectiveness of the Lennox program. “But the parents and teachers are very enthusiastic and I really feel that what we’re doing is making a difference with the kids,” she said.

Gus Dalis, a county Department of Education consultant who has seen many approaches to drug education come and go in his 25 years in health education, said he is encouraged by the new techniques.

“They are based on the same principles of learning that we use in teaching other subjects like reading,” he said. “They start at an early age and then follow a systematic, sequential course up through the higher grades.

“In the past, attempts have tended to be sporadic and short-lived--bring in a speaker, show a film, anything to deal with the crisis of the moment. We also tried scare tactics, which didn’t impress anyone--especially the kids.”

Dalis said one of the best features of the new approach is the heavy emphasis on early prevention. “It appears to be the only long-term solution to the drug problem,” he said.