Drug Prevention Activities for Second-Graders
You can educate your second-grade students about the basic facts concerning certain drugs they are likely to come into contact with in their daily lives. Drug prevention activities can also instill independence and self-esteem in children to help them say no to drugs. The activities should be age- and level-appropriate, with varying approaches depending upon the ability of each student.
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What Is a Drug?
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Students can offer guesses as to what a drug is. You can provide suitable definitions the students will understand, and pictures of the drugs they will be learning more about in the drug prevention activities. Legal and illegal drugs can be distinguished. Drugs listed and defined should include alcohol, over-the-counter medications, prescription medications, tobacco, marijuana and inhalants. You may wish to use pre-prepared teaching units which cover all of these topics in a comprehensive way using a variety of activities.
Alcohol
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Students can discuss alcohol, what it is and why it is considered a drug. You may wish to introduce some statistics about alcohol-related issues, such as drinking and driving, car accidents and deaths caused by drunk driving. Students may also want to discuss why alcohol and other drugs are generally acceptable in Western society but not in some other cultures or religions. The idea of addiction can also be introduced at this point, as well as the concept of withdrawal from a drug.
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Over-the-Counter Medications
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Students can discuss the benefits but also the side effects of certain common medications that they might have taken themselves. They can discuss whether drugs are safe or not. They can also discuss from whom it is safe to take a drug, such as a parent or doctor, versus from whom it would not be safe to take one, such as a fellow student or stranger. Stories on these themes can reinforce the drug prevention message.
Prescription Medications
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Students can discuss and be given information on popular prescription medications, but also statistics on how they are being abused by teenagers and adults. They can discuss the effects of certain classes of drugs such as opiates, which relieve pain but are also highly addictive. Students can come up with slogans, warning labels and other forms of writing which highlight this problem. Students can also write stories about what they would do if they were ever offered a drug, and why they would not take it.
Tobacco
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Students can do research and discuss the dangers of smoking and chewing tobacco and the effects of nicotine. They might also write an essay on why smoking and chewing tobacco should be banned or why tobacco is permitted to be sold when its harmful effects on health are already known. Students can practice role-playing what to do if someone ever offers them a cigarette.
Marijuana
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Following on from the bad effects of smoking tobacco, students can discuss how smoking marijuana is both similar and different. Its mind-altering effects should be highlighted. Students can role-play facing peer pressure to try marijuana and how to make smart choices with their lives.
Inhalants
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Students should be made aware of the many common inhalants that they come across in daily life, such as certain glues, and the effects and dangers of inhalants. Students can role-play what might happen if they were to try dangerous drugs. They should also talk about all the things they appreciate about their lives, families and good health. Other forms of self-expression and self-esteem on this subject should be encouraged as well.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit drugs image by alimat from Fotolia.com
