How do I Evaluate an In-School Drug Prevention Program for At-Risk Youth?

Drug-use prevention is important for at-risk youths.

Drug-use prevention programs are designed to help youths and young adults make good choices, such as avoiding drug use. In-school programs are available in many public schools. Determining the effectiveness of the program and improving them to be more effective is an important part of evaluation. At-risk youths need effective programs, or they will end up taking drugs.

Instructions

1. Review statistical information. Look at the information available before and after the program started. If the statistics show improvement from the start of the program to the current program, the program is effective.

2. Talk to the youths. The young adults can talk about the program and give personal insights. Ask questions about whether it helps or about other ways the program can help, and take notes based on the answers.

3. Examine the program. Determine whether the program provides alternative options and education for the youths. At-risk youths live in areas where drug use, gangs, and similar problems are found, resulting in the at-risk environment. Alternative options are a necessary part of giving the youths something else other than drug use.

4. Determine how the program works. In-school programs are ideally part of necessary education. If it is an option, it will be ineffective because not all of the students participate. Look at the programs and how the school integrates it. The best programs are a necessary educational and academic step that educates the youths about drugs and peer pressure and provides alternatives.

References

• National Institute on Drug Abuse: Preventing Drug Abuse Among Children and Adolescents
• Americans For the Heart: At Risk Pamphlet

Resources

• Reconnecting Youth: Drug Prevention Program
• U.S. Department of Justice: At Risk Youth and Gang Prevention