Standards of Learning

7.1 The student will use knowledge of health concepts to make decisions related to personal safety and wellness. Key concepts/skills include:

1. alternatives to gang-related behaviors and acts of violence;
2. recognition of harmful and risky behaviors;
3. the benefits of stress management and stress reduction techniques;
4. the development of strategies for coping with disappointment;
5. factors that affect school success;
6. the impact of difficult family situations;
7. development of healthy interpersonal relationships.

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Understanding the Standard

The student will explore alternatives to gang-related behaviors and acts of violence and recognize potentially harmful or risky behaviors.

Essential Knowledge and Skills

The student will:

• define risky behaviors. (actions that may cause injury to you or others)
• describe a gang. (groups of young people who band together to participate in violent or criminal behaviors)
• identify venues that display images of violence. (violence on television, stories about violent crimes, etc.)
• identify the causes of violence. (money, anger, hate crimes, easy access to illegal weapons, gang peer pressure, alcohol and other drugs, etc.)
• review and discuss why someone would want to become a gang member. (to be part of a group, to get drugs, feel lonely or bored, peer pressure, racial or ethnic reasons, etc.)
• discuss the dangers of being part of a gang. (forced to commit crimes, live in fear, etc.)
• list risky behaviors that could cause harm to self or others. (using tobacco, alcohol and other drugs, playing with weapons, picking fights, etc.)
• list less risky alternative activities. (sports, clubs, work, etc.)

Sample Lessons

"Cycle of Addiction"
Grade(s): 6-8
Students will examine the cycle of addiction to drugs and what can be done to prevent it. At the same time they will learn how families and peers influence their decision making.
http://school.discovery.com/lessonplans/programs/addiction/
Free

Do the Right Thing: Finding Solutions for the Causes of Gang Violence
Grade(s): 6-12
In this lesson, students will consider the relationship between gang violence and the factors that can contribute to its increase. After researching the issues behind one such factor, students will make recommendations for implementing changes in local government, law enforcement, and other local agencies, that may help reduce gang violence.
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20021025
Free

Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE)
Grades: 6-8
Substance abuse prevention program for youth. Teaches youth how to resist peer pressure and live drug and violence-free lives.
Contact: http://www.dare.com

Great Ideas!: "Using Violent and Nonviolent Methods to Solve Problems"
Grade(s): 7-12
Students will identify situations in which violent and nonviolent methods can be used.
http://education.indiana.edu/cas/tt/v2i3/violent.html
Free

Healthy B.A.S.I.C.S. Lesson Plan: "What to do when I’m Angry"
Grade(s): 6-8
Students will define anger as a normal emotion, then will list three behaviors that show when anger is out of control.  After finishing both of these activities the students will describe three positive ways to deal with anger.
http://www.childrenshealthfund.org/publications/HBLPanger.pdf
Free

HeartPower!
Grades: 6-8
Teaches student about the heart and how to keep it healthy. Science-based. Lessons, handouts.
--How Can You Help Others Stay Tobacco Free?
--Why is Second Hand Smoke Dangerous?
Sponsor: American Heart Association
Contact: http://www.americanheart.org (select HeartPower!)
Free

"Peer Pressure"
Grade(s): 6-8
At ages 12 to 14, youths are aware of drugs and may already have been offered or pressured to use drugs by older siblings and friends, or by their own peers. This lesson helps students recognize peer pressure and decide how to refuse drugs.
http://www.acde.org/educate/78plan2.htm
Free

Social Emotional Learning Lesson
Grade(s): 5-8 
Students will learn to recognize own anger and develop appropriate responses
http://www.dist102.k12.il.us/internal/SELWebPg/COP5-8Oregon.htm
Free

S.O.D.A.T.: "Peer Pressure"
Grade(s): 7-8
At ages 12 to 14, youths are aware of drugs and may already have been offered or pressured to use drugs by older siblings and friends, or by their own peers. This lesson helps students recognize peer pressure and decide how to refuse drugs.
http://www.sodat.org/Lesson%20Plan%207&8.htm
Free

Tough Truces: A Lesson on the Causes and Prevention of Gang Violence
Grade(s): 6-12
In this lesson, students will learn about the factors contributing to the growth of gangs and gang violence. Groups will discuss causes for gang violence and suggest measures that can be taken by various community groups to reduce such activity.
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20020412
Free

"Understanding Character Motivation through Human Psychology"
Grade: 7
Through this lesson, seventh grade students learn how to enhance their awareness of others' abilities and how to manage their own impulses.
http://www.csee.net/LessonPlans.asp?id=11
Free

"With a little help from my friends?"
Grade(s): 7-8
To learn that having friends is an important part of growing up, but being in charge of the friendship rather than allowing it to control you is also important.  In this lesson students learn to not get caught up in peer pressure.
http://www.acde.org/educate/78plan1.htm
Free

Additional Instructional Resources

• ACDE Drug Prevention Lesson Plans – http://www.acde.org/educate/Lessons.htm
• Adolescence: Peer Influence - http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/n/x/nxd10/adpeer2.htm
• Blueprints for Violence Prevention, the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence - http://www.colorado.edu/cspv/blueprints/
• Bullying Resources compiled by the California Department of Education - http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/ss/se/bullyres.asp
• Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence – http://www.colorado.edu/cspv
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control – http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc
• Children’s Safety Network – National Injury and Violence Prevention Resource – http://www.childrensafetynetwork.org
• Drug and Violence Prevention - http://dave.esc4.net
• Gangs or Us - http://www.gangsorus.com/
• Kansas Bullying Prevention Program, Statewide Bullying Campaign - http://www.kbpp.org/
• Life Skills Program National Bullying Prevention Campaign Webcast - http://www.mchcom.com/archivedWebcastDetail.asp?aeid=250
• National Crime Prevention Council – http://www.ncpc.org
• National Youth Gang Center – http://www.iir.com/nygc/maininfo.htm
• National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center (NYVPRC) – http://www.safeyouth.org
• Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention – http://ojjdp.ncjrs.org
• Olweus Bullying Prevention Program - nationally recognized model program to reduce opportunities and rewards for bullying - http://www.clemson.edu/olweus/
• Partnership Against Violence Network – http://www.pavnet.org
• Prevention Pathways Online Courses, Center for Substance Abuse Prevention - http://pathwayscourses.samhsa.gov/bully/bully_intro_pg1.htm
• PREVENT, Preventing Violence Through Education Network and Technical Assistance, University of North Carolina - http://www.prevent.unc.edu/
• Resource Officer
• School Guidance Staff
• Stop Bullying Now! Campaign, Human Resources And Services Administration - http://www.stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov
• Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) – http://www.saddonline.com
• U.S. Department of Education, Safe & Drug-Free Schools Program – http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/SDFS/
• U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Criminal Justice Reference Service – http://www.ncjrs.org
• U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention – http://www.ojjdp.ncjrs.org
• Youth Violence Fact Sheet, Center for Disease Control and Prevention - http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/yvfacts.htm
• Virginia Best Practices in School-Based Violence Prevention, Virginia Department of Health -http://www.preventviolenceva.org
• Virginia Center for School Safety – http://www.virginiaschoolsafety.com
• Virginia Department of Education, Safe & Drug-Free Schools Program – http://www.safeanddrugfreeva.org
• Virginia Youth Violence Project, University of Virginia -http://youthviolence.edschool.virginia.edu/
• What New Zealand Police are doing about bullying -http://www.police.govt.nz/service/yes/nobully/whats_bullying.html

Assessment Ideas

The student will:

• explore the alternatives to gang-related behaviors and acts of violence.
• role-play refusal skills for avoiding risky behaviors.
• locate articles in newspaper, magazine, on the Internet, or on a television news program that relates to violence or gang behavior.
• brainstorm strategies to make the community safer.

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