Content Area: Health and Physical Education

 

Index: 2.3C Grade 8 CPI 4

 

Standard: 2.3 - Drugs & Medicine

 

Strand: C - Dependency/Addiction and Treatment

 

Cumulative Progress Indicator:  4 - The student will describe how substance abuse affects the individual, the family, and the community.

 

Grade: 8

 

Sample Activities:

 

·        YOUR FUTURE, YOUR LIFE - In this activity, students discover how mistakes regarding the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs can impact their ability to get a job. Divide the class into small groups, and supply each group with a number of college and employment applications. Students review the applications, looking for questions about drug arrests, convictions, or drug use. Students research how a drug conviction might affect employability in various occupations (e.g., law enforcement, the military, education, pharmacy, healthcare providers) and present the findings to the class for discussion.

 

·        GIFTS FOR CHILDREN: LIVING IN A CHEMICALLY DEPENDENT FAMILY - Review the problems of a teen living in a chemically dependent family. Use a story or video (e.g., The Boy Wonder from the Working It Out At Madison Series available from Community Intervention, 1-
800-328-0417) to trigger the discussion. After the story or video, each student writes a brief paragraph describing three “gifts” they would bring to the teen in the story. Students provide a rationale for their choices. The gifts may be emotional, physical, psychological, or symbolic. Discuss the student selections.