What does REAL mean to you? For us it means, Refuse, Explain, Avoid, and Leave – four ways of communicating that can make a huge difference in kids lives by helping them to understand the risks, make good decisions and resist the temptations of using drugs.
The Drug Resistance Strategies Project is about how and why adolescents use alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs and what to do to prevent substance use. The National Registry of Effective Programs lists our middle school curriculum, keepin’ it REAL, as one of their model, substance abuse prevention programs. We have talked to thousands of adolescents about their lives in order to describe the teen world in their own words, especially about their experiences with offers of alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, and other drugs. These narratives or stories tell us how adolescents understand the risks they face, how they make decisions about what to do, and what they do when drugs are available. We used this research to develop keepin’ it REAL, an effective, multimedia, multicultural middle school prevention program which relates teen’s personal stories of drug resistance, in settings and using language they find familiar and reduces the likelihood they will use alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs.
Their personal stories of resisting drugs bring "saying no" to life and reveal how teens understand risks and make effective decisions. They also present the REAL resistance strategies (Refuse, Explain, Avoid, and Leave) that teens can use when refusing drugs, but which also help them maintain relationships. We call this the “from kids through kids to kids” approach thanks to the talent of volunteering high school students, that created videos used for visualizing our informative curriculum.
PSU Live: Is 'Just Say No' an effective anti-drug approach?
The "REAL" Resistance
Strategies
Refuse - "No, I don't want to smoke that."
Explain - "No, I don't want to smoke that because it makes me sick."
Avoid - Stay away from places where drugs are.
Leave - Go someplace else.
keepin' it REAL was selected as a SAMSHA model program (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration).