Educating Students about Drug Use and Mental Health - Grade 4: Expectation 3

Grade 4 Overview

Expectation 1

2

3

Specific Learning Expectation

Apply decision-making and assertiveness skills to make and maintain healthy choices related to tobacco use, and recognize factors that can influence decisions to smoke or not to smoke (e.g., the media, family members, friends, laws).

Background Information

The decision-making model that students have used to this point has been the "LOOK, THINK, DECIDE, ACT" model (used with permission from the "Making Decisions Program" (1999), Alcohol-Drug Education Service, Vancouver, B.C.), which asked students to come up with the safest choice in situations involving substance use.

At this point, a more expanded version will be introduced. This is called the "IDEAL" decision-making model (used with permission from the "Smoke-Free Class of 2000, Grade 7 Kit", Council for Tobacco-Free Ontario (1994) ) and asks students to:

Identify the problem

Determine/Discuss the alternatives

Evaluate the alternatives, listing pros and cons of each alternative

Act by voting on the alternative that is thought to be the "best" choice for the student

Learn, by discussing what is meant by "best" and how this might differ from student to student, and situation to situation. (This is a twist on the usual meaning for this component, which states, "Learn from the experience". It is included to allow students to continue to discuss their scenarios after one decision has been reached, in order to encourage other alternatives to come forward.)

Teaching/Learning Strategies

Review the harmful substances found in tobacco, and the short and long-term effects of first and second-hand smoke.

Activity:

Set up three stations in the classroom. Students will rotate through each of the stations. (Reprinted with permission from Toronto Public Health, developed by the former North York Public Health Department.)

The stations will be:

• the costs of smoking
• peer pressure
• assertiveness skills

Divide the students into four groups. Each group goes to one of the stations and completes the activities there.

Activity stations and sheets include:

Smoking Costs . . . A Lot!

One pack of cigarettes costs $7.00.

1. If a student buys two packs of cigarettes per week, the cost is? $________.

2. If there are 25 cigarettes in a pack, how much does each cigarette cost? $________.

3. In one month, the same student spends $_________ on cigarettes.

4. Over one year, the smoking habit costs the student $___________.

Name five things you can buy with this money other than cigarettes: (e.g., rollerblades)

1. ___________________________  2. ___________________________

3. ___________________________  4. ___________________________

5. ___________________________

 

Share your list with the rest of your group.

Feeling the Pressure

Information sheet:

People are pressured into doing things like smoking in many ways. Here are three types of pressure:

a) Indirect Pressure:

• when you see other people smoking (they may be friends, family or people on TV or in magazines), this may make people think, "If it's O.K. for them, it must be O.K. for me."

b) Direct Pressure:

• when you are offered a cigarette, the person offering the cigarette may say, "Want to smoke?"

c) Forceful Pressure:

• when you are being forced to smoke, the person doing the pressuring may tease you or call you names if you don't agree to smoke.

One person reads the following story and the group answers the questions. One person writes the answers for the group.

Carlos can't wait to get to his cousin Ben's. He gets to ride the train by himself this summer. The trip is about three hours and finally Carlos sees his Aunt Maria and Ben waving to him from the station platform.

At Ben's house, Carlos' aunt has pizza, popcorn, and a great line-up of movies for the boys to watch, including "The X-Files". This is Carlos' favorite show. Carlos and Ben like "Cancer Man", you know, the mysterious guy who smokes all the time. They think he is cool.

Ben's older brother, Bob, pops into the living room and kids them about the party he is going to. "Too bad you can't come," he jokes. He takes something from his pocket and throws it to Ben. Carlos sees that it is a cigarette. Bob asks Ben if he wants to smoke, and Ben says, "O.K." Carlos is not so sure.

Ben suggests they hang out in the backyard. Carlos would rather watch the end of the movie, but he follows Ben outside.

"Let's have our own party," Ben says. He takes out a package of matches and the cigarette. "Here, you go first. You're the guest!" laughs Ben. Carlos doesn't answer right away. "Go ahead, are you a baby?" teases Ben.

Carlos is confused. He really likes Ben, but he doesn't like being called a baby. He takes a deep breath and says, "Why are you calling me a baby?"

"I...well... I thought that we should try it because my brother gave it to me," explains Ben. "Actually, I'd rather find out what happens in The X-Files and eat some more pizza!"

"Me too," says Carlos, and they head back inside the house to have fun.

Look at the "Feeling the Pressure" information given above. In your group, answer these questions:

1) Carlos feels indirect pressure to smoke when

_________________________________________

2) Carlos feels direct pressure to smoke when

_________________________________________

3) Carlos feels forceful pressure to smoke when

_________________________________________

4) What did Carlos do to resist the pressure to smoke?

_________________________________________

Standing Up for Yourself

Information sheet:

Standing up for yourself isn't always easy, but learning and practicing ways to say "No" to pressure is a good step. Here are some ways to say "No!":

• Make a clear "No" statement (e.g., "No, I'm not interested.").
• Use a friendly, firm voice.
• Repeat your "No" statement over and over like a broken record.
• Make an excuse (e.g., "I'm allergic to smoke.").
• Reverse the pressure (e.g., "Why are you teasing me?").
• Just leave (e.g., "I've got to go home.").
• Make another suggestion (e.g., "Let's go watch TV instead.").

Resisting the Pressure to Smoke

Read the following skit. Talk about ways you could resist the pressure to smoke. Use the ideas from the "Standing Up for Yourself" information to help you.

• Where: Walking home from school
• When: After a test at school
• What's happening: Your new friend pulls out a cigarette that she took from her mother. She lights the cigarette and offers you a smoke.
• What do you say?

Role-play this scene in your group, and try out all the suggestions on the information sheet. Use the IDEAL decision-making model to decide on your best choice.

Identify the problem:
Your new friend wants you to smoke. You don't want to, but you don't want to lose her as a friend.

Determine/Discuss the alternatives:
Try out all the ways to stand up for yourself.

Evaluate the alternatives:
Which one would work best so that you don't smoke and you keep your friend?

Act:
Vote as a group which way is the best way.

Learn:
Each student completes the following sentence to hand in:

If I am being pressured to do something I don't want to do, I can stand up for myself and still keep my friends by saying,

"______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________."

Hidden Influences

(Adapted with permission from Tuning into Health, Drug and Alcohol Decisions (1986), The Alcoholism Foundation of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB.)

Many things influence us when we are making decisions about smoking. Look at the wordsearch (appears below) and find all the things that influence our decisions.

(Teacher's note: When the students have all gone through all the stations, discuss the information from this wordsearch with the whole class.)

Assessments of Learning

1. Review of past material

2. Observations of small group work

3. Participation in small group work

4. Activity/exercise sheets

5. Wordsearch exercise (appears below)

6. Class discussion of influences

Rubric for Levels of Assessment

Level 1: Needs assistance to understand the concepts of assertiveness skills, decision-making and factors that influence decisions. Participates actively only with constant encouragement, applies few of the required skills. Communicates poorly, with many errors, rarely using appropriate terminology. Level 2: Shows understanding of some of the concepts with several minor errors. Participates actively, needing only occasional encouragement; applies some of the required skills. Communicates with some clarity, sometimes using appropriate terminology. Level 3: Shows understanding of most of the required concepts, with only a few errors, requires no encouragement to participate, applies most of the required skills. Communicates clearly and precisely, making few errors, and usually uses appropriate terminology. Level 4: Shows understanding of all or most of the concepts. Participates actively, encourages others to do so as well and applies all of the skills. Communicates clearly and precisely, using appropriate and varied language.

"Influences" wordsearch:  (Reprinted with permission from Tuning into Health (1986), Alcoholism Foundation of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB.)

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Hidden in this puzzle are twelve (12) factors that can influence a person's decisions about drug use. Locate and circle each factor. They may be written backwards or forwards, up and down, or on an angle. Write each word on one of the lines below the puzzle.

Influencing factors:

1.______________________________  7.______________________________

2.______________________________  8.______________________________

3.______________________________  9.______________________________

4.______________________________ 10.______________________________

5.______________________________ 11.______________________________

6.______________________________ 12.______________________________

(Teacher's note: Answers: Values, Information, Parents, Trends, Ads (Advertising), Religion, Money, Image, Curiosity, Laws, Friends, Health) 

Additional Resources

There are some additional resources listed at the end of this document. You may also check with your local school board, public health office or call the central information numbers at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health:

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