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Too Smart To Start Menu

Additional Resources

The materials listed below are available from SAMHSA’s National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information (NCADI), the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and the Too Smart To Start National Partners. These materials and SAMHSA’s Model Programs can be used to supplement the materials and strategies provided by the Too Smart To Start Initiative.

SAMHSA’s National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information

For copies of the following publication, contact SAMHSA’s National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information (NCADI) at 1-800-729-6686, info@ncadi.samhsa.gov or at www.ncadi.samhsa.gov

Underage Drinking Prevention: Action Guide and Planner presents a theme each month that is accompanied by facts and calls to action. It also includes a section on promoting prevention efforts and sample materials such as speeches, press releases, and letters to alcohol sales outlets.

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

Visit NIAAA’s Web Site - www.niaaa.nih.gov to access or download information on underage alcohol use.

Thecoolspot.gov is NIAAA’s Web site for middle-school age children. It includes underage drinking prevention PSAs, interactive “scenarios,” frequently asked questions, and links to other kids’ pages.

National Partners’ Materials

Six national prevention groups have partnered with Too Smart To Start to ensure that news, materials, successes, and new ideas are communicated nationwide via their affiliates, schools, faith-based centers, the media, and other venues. Many of these partners have independently developed materials that may be used to support the initiative.

AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION (AMA)

Visit AMA’s Web Site - www.ama-assn.org to learn more about its programs.

COMMUNITY ANTI-DRUG COALITIONS OF AMERICA (CADCA)

Visit CADCA’s Web Site - www.cadca.org to learn about the variety of publications and other materials available to assist in building and sustaining community coalitions and to support your community’s underage alcohol use prevention efforts. CADCA’s publication include the following:

Coalitions is a biannual newsletter that covers a wide range of topics useful to community based coalitions. Issues range from 12 to 20 pages in length, and often examine a single topic in depth.

Promoting a Healthy Environment: Reducing Underage Drinking (Strat-33) addresses how to create protective environments in which children can learn, grow, and mature.

Prevention Research in Parenting and Family Intervention (PT1) provides information on how to (1) choose the most costefficient and effective parenting/family intervention program for use at the local level, (2) work with the social institutions in which parents and families are most accessible, and (3) approach policy-makers for prevention and treatment support.

MOTHERS AGAINST DRUNK DRIVING (MADD)

Visit MADD’s Web Site - www.MADD.org to learn more about its national programs. Following are descriptions of some of MADD’s programs and materials:

Protecting You, Protecting Me: See description under SAMHSA Model Programs.

Street Smarts and Fake ID School Assembly Programs are multimedia assembly programs using the latest DVD technology projected on three giant screens (final set-up size 15’ x 45’) that produce a sensory experience that will have students talking for days. The audience will be engaged by poignant stories of real young people, celebrity interviews, clips from major motion pictures, and a contemporary soundtrack. These programs are for students in kindergarten through sixth grade and seventh through 12th grade, respectively.

Brain Smarts is an activity guide for students in third through fifth grades; designed to raise awareness about the impact of alcohol on the developing brain.

Fragile Handle with Care is an activity guide for students in sixth and seventh grades that includes fun activities that teach youth about the development of their brains and the effect of alcohol on their brains.

Underage Drinking Information Parents Need to Know is a factsheet containing basic information every parent should know about the realities of underage drinking. It can be downloaded from the MADD Web site.

Teach Your Children Well includes tips for parents on how to talk with their children about the effects of drinking alcohol. It can be downloaded from the MADD Web site.

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STATE ALCOHOL AND DRUG ABUSE DIRECTORS/NATIONAL PREVENTION NETWORK (NASADAD/NPN)

Visit NASADAD’s Web Site - www.NASADAD.org to find links to your State substance abuse prevention agency.

NATIONAL FAMILY PARTNERSHIP (NFP)

Visit NFP’s Web Site - www.nfp.org to download or order the following materials designed for parents and young people who are committed to supporting drug-free youth.

Alcohol Quiz Card for Kids is a one-page sheet that parents can use to test their children’s knowledge about alcohol. The sheets can also be reproduced for use in alcohol-awareness activities.

National Family Partnership Parent Kit includes seven pieces that provide parents with practical strategies for helping their children stay away from drugs. Two of the pieces focus on alcohol: Alcohol: Information for Parents and Alcohol Factsheet.

National Family Partnership Newsletter allows parents to share ideas, learn effective strategies, and get inspired by stories from across the country.

Informed Families’ Parent Pilot Kit is a working binder that contains a proactive training program to educate and involve parents of preteens and teenagers in substance abuse prevention. The kit contains information about communications, driving laws, drug charts, tobacco control, parental self-evaluations, and instructions for starting parent peer groups. It also includes Safe Homes/Safe Parties pledges, charts for management of rules and chores, and a family calendar.

PRIDE YOUTH PROGRAMS

Visit PRIDE online www.prideyouthprograms.org to learn about its teams, memberships, products, and annual world drug prevention conference.

SAMHSA Model Programs

SAMHSA Model Programs are science-based and consistently produce positive results. The developers of these programs have agreed to participate in SAMHSA/CSAP’s dissemination efforts and to provide training and technical assistance to interested practitioners.

For additional information about any of the model programs, e-mail SAMHSA at MODPROG@samhsa.gov or call (877)773-8546 (toll free) to speak with an information specialist.

These programs are included in the menu because they were developed for various segments of Too Smart To Start’s target audiences: parents/caregivers and their 9- to 13-year-old children.

Model Programs for 9- To 13- Year-Olds and Their Parents/Caregivers

Keep a Clear Mind (KACM) - for 8- to 12-year-olds and their parents. This substantial, take-home drug education program consists of four weekly activity sets to be completed by parents and their children together. The program also includes parent newsletters and incentives.

Project Northland - for 10- to 14-year-olds and their parents. Evidence shows that this multi-level, multi-year program effectively delays the onset of drinking, reduces alcohol use in current drinkers, and limits the number of alcohol-related problems in young people. Project Northland addresses changes in both individual behavior and the environment. It also strives to change the ways in which parents communicate with their children, peers influence one another, and communities respond to young adolescent alcohol use.

Protecting You, Protecting Me - for 6- to 10-year-olds. An innovative, universal classroom intervention meant to be integrated into a school’s core curriculum and taught by trained teachers, counselors, and others. The intervention is designed to reduce substance use/abuse by teaching students about the development of the human brain and the immediate risks posed by alcohol exposure during development; to foster nonuse attitudes and decisions; and to strengthen refusal and self-protection skills with regard to riding with impaired drivers. Protecting You, Protecting Me employs strategies to increase parent involvement and improve family management practices by teaching parents about children’s development and how to protect them from the risks associated with alcohol exposure. This program was originally funded and developed by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).

Start Taking Alcohol Risks Seriously (STARS) for Families - for at-risk 11- to 14-year-olds. A health promotion and alcohol use prevention program that encourages youth to postpone alcohol use until adulthood. STARS for Families tailors media-related, interpersonal, and environmental prevention strategies to each child’s specific stages of alcohol initiation and readiness for change, and risk and protective factors. Evidence shows this program results in avoidance of or reductions in alcohol use among participants.

The Strengthening Families Program (SFP) - for 6- to 12-year-olds and their families. SFP uses family skills training sessions based on family systems and cognitive-behavioral approaches to increase resilience and reduce risk factors for behavioral, emotional, academic, and social problems. SFP focuses on three factors:

• Improving family relationships
• Improving parenting skills
• Increasing youths’ social and life skills

Too Good For Drugs (TGFD) - for 5- to 18-year-olds. A school-based program designed to reduce risk factors and enhance protective factors relating to alcohol, tobacco, and drug use. Developed by the Mendez Foundation, TGFD has separate, developmentally appropriate curricula for each grade between one and twelve, focusing on developing the following areas as related to alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drug use:

• Personal and interpersonal skills
• Appropriate attitudes
• Knowledge of negative consequences of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use, and benefits of a drug-free lifestyle
• Positive peer norms

Model Programs for Parents/Caregivers of 9- to 13- Year-Olds

Parenting Wisely (PW) - for parents of delinquents and at risk adolescents. PW uses demonstrations, quizzes, repetition, recognition, and rehearsal to improve family relationships and teach parents adaptive and effective parenting skills, including communication skills, positive reinforcement, contingency management, and problem-solving skill.

Preparing for the Drug Free Years (PDFY) - for parents of 8- to 13-year-olds. A multimedia program providing parents the knowledge and skills they need to guide their children through early adolescence. Based on 20 years of research showing that positive parental involvement is an important protective factor that increases school success and buffers children against later problems such as substance abuse, violence, and risky sexual behavior, PDFY has three goals:

• to strengthen and clarify family expectations for behavior,
• to enhance conditions promoting family bonding, and
• to teach children skills to meet the family’s expectations that they resist drug use.