Schools on the Front Lines in War on Drugs : New Approach Shows Students How to Say ‘No’

A new course called “Here’s Looking At You, 2000” being taught here combines traditional teaching methods with computers and videotape to persuade schoolchildren to say “no” to drugs.

Clay Roberts, whose Seattle-based health education consulting company, Roberts, Fitzmahan & Associates, developed the curriculum, says it uses recent research that identifies risk factors in children most likely to abuse drugs.

The “Here’s Looking At You, 2000” curriculum, whose name is meant to signify an optimistic forward look toward the next century, is the third generation of anti-drug courses by Roberts’ firm that started 13 years ago as “Here’s Looking At You,” and later developed into “Here’s Looking At You, Two.” The programs are now in use in all 50 states, but are especially popular in the West.

Risk Factors

The latest course provides information on drugs and their effects and helps build social skills.

Each lesson targets a risk factor. For example, Roberts explained, children from families where chemical dependency is a problem are at three times the risk of becoming abusers themselves. So lessons are included, along with early signs and symptoms, to teach children that chemical dependency is a disease that runs in families.

In Portland schools, the result is an approach that fits neatly with a comprehensive health program that emphasizes being healthy, said Marilyn Richen, coordinator of the district’s drug and alcohol programs.

Students are taught to think about the effects of what they eat, drink and smoke, she said.

“We do want kids to stay drug-free for as long as possible,” Richen said. “That’s the ultimate goal.”

The program stresses social skills. Students use role-playing to learn to be assertive with their friends and to control their behavior. They learn how to turn the tables on friends who might be pressuring them to take drugs.

Roberts said videotapes of successful sessions are replayed to show students what they did right.

Richen said drug education programs must strive to be relevant to today’s children, many of whom live in households where use of illegal drugs is routine.

“Despite that, some manage to maintain themselves and stay clean, and you’ve got to hope that the support from the educational system helps them do that,” she said.