Have students create visual presentations using electronic media, posters, or mobiles of the consequences for society of substance use and abuse.

• Have students use the Internet or other resources to find statistics (e.g., from the World Health Organization) showing relationships between consumption of tobacco and alcohol around the world and estimated health care costs or other social consequences. Have students graph their findings.
• Invite guest speakers (e.g., drug and alcohol counsellor, public health nurse) to make presentations on the effects of substance use and abuse on Canada’s legal, health, and social systems.
• Ask students to research current social initiatives related to substance abuse (e.g., no-smoking by-laws for restaurants, advertising and sponsorship bans for liquor or tobacco companies, mandatory drug testing for employees in certain types of jobs). Provide an opportunity for students to share their findings.
• Have students choose a particular substance and research its effects on society, using the self-questioning technique, "What do I know? What do I want to know? How will I find out? What did I learn?" to guide their work.
• Provide students with works of literature in which characters deal with problems related to substance abuse. Ask each student to read a selection and then report on how the characters resolve these problems.
• Have students identify the steps they use to make decisions and solve problems. Then have them apply the model to role-play scenarios involving substance use or abuse.
• Invite students to use journals to record situations in which they observed or experienced peer pressure to use substances. You might also have them develop a strategy to use in such situations.

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©Copyright 1999. All Rights Reserved. Curriculum Branch.
Maintained by: Personal Planning Coordinator

Revised:November 24, 1999