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LOCAL Across Ages: An Intergenerational Mentoring Approach to Drug Prevention REGION: North America COUNTRY: USA Organisation: Temple University/Centre for Intergenerational Learning TARGET GROUPS: ● High-risk youth (9 -13) ● Parents SETTINGS: ● Community-based ● Schools IMPLEMENTING AGENTS: ● Mentors PROJECT PURPOSE: To provide children with positive role models through mentoring COST: US $1,500 per child per year DURATION: 10 years and ongoing “When you give your love, you see and feel where it goes” – older volunteer. Background: The United States of America has a national drug control strategy developed by the Office of National Drug Control Policy. This is a federal Government office responsible for setting policy with regard to drug trafficking, treatment and prevention. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is responsible for allocating and monitoring many of the federally-funded programmes and research initiatives. There are currently almost 30 million young people in the United States between the ages of 10 and 17 1 . Most of them will grow up to be healthy, mature adults, but an ever-increasing number are growing up with little hope of enjoying the benefits that come with adulthood. They are not learning the skills necessary to participate in the educational system or to make the transition into the labour force. They often cannot become responsible parents because they have limited experience in family life and lack the resources to raise their own children. These especially vulnerable youth are functionally illiterate, disconnected from school and prone to drug abuse, depression and early criminal activity. Today, more than half of all US children will spend some time in a single-parent family. 1 Poverty and its consequences put young people at greater risk of drug abuse. Non-white youth in the US, including an increasing number of Hispanic and Asian children, are often affected in greater numbers. The project was designed as a school and community-based model. Over a ten-year period, it has targeted students aged 9-13 from public schools with similar profiles regarding such key elements as high levels of absenteeism, suspension rates and low educational performance. The project, in Philadelphia and in its replications nationwide, also targets ethnic minorities who are traditionally under-served. 44 Sources: 1 The Current Status of Youth in the United States as cited in J. G. Dryfoos (1998): Safe passage: Making it through adolescence in a risky society. Oxford University Press: New York.
LOCAL Aims: To prevent, reduce or delay drug abuse in high-risk youth aged 9 to 13, by enhancing personal resiliency and strengthening protective factors through mentoring. Main activities: ● The Across Ages programme is designed to achieve the following objectives: ● To increase knowledge about, and negative attitudes towards, alcohol and tobacco use ● To increase the bonds between youth and school, inspiring significantly improved academic performance, school attendance and in-school behaviour ● To improve the social competence and problem-solving skills of the youth ● To improve the capacity of the youth to form relationships with adults and peers ● Implementing the Across Ages project involves the following activities: ● One-to-one mentoring of youth by an older adult mentor (mentors range in age from 55 to 85 years) ● Youth are engaged in weekly community service activities. Youth make weekly visits to residents in nursing homes, thus becoming the providers of a service to their elder partners in the same way they are the recipients of service from their mentors ● Youth participate in a social competence/problem solving 26-session curriculum based on the Social Problem-Solving Module of the Social Competence Promotion Programme for Youth Adolescents 2 ● Monthly family activities are held for youth, their mentors and family members. ● Focusing on theory-based activities: The project is based on the social development theory, 3 4 which hypothesises that the existence of strong social bonds to others who exhibit pro-social behaviours is essential to healthy childhood development. The theory suggests that youth who have opportunities for positive involvement in healthy activities, who develop social competence skills, who receive reinforcement and reward for their participation and who become attached and committed to a social unit - e.g. family, peers or school - are also less likely to become involved in an array of risky behaviours, including drug abuse. Increasing social bonding, promoting drug-free norms and teaching resistance skills can reduce risk factors. The project, therefore, selected activities that met these criteria. The literature on resilient youth 5 6 suggests that the presence of a significant, caring adult is the most important factor in reducing the likelihood that youth will engage in risky behaviour. As a result, mentoring is the primary activity of this project. More recently, a number of studies have demonstrated the efficacy of mentoring as a “We all stand on the shoulders of the generations that came before. Therefore we have the obligation to pass on a world to the next generation which is a little better than the one we inherited...” (Robert Ball) prevention strategy 7 and the role of older adult mentors in prevention. 8 9 45 Sources: 2 Weissberg, R.P., Caplan, M., Bennetto, L. and Stroud, A. 1990. The Yale-New Haven Social Problem Solving Program for Young Adolescents. New Haven, CT. Yale University. 3 Hawkins, J.D., Lishner, D.M. and Catalano, R.F. 1985. Childhood predictors and the prevention of substance abuse. In C.L. Jones and R.D. Battjes (Eds.). Etiology of drug abuse: implications for prevention. NIDA Monograph Series No. 56 pp 117-131. Washington, DC. U.S. Government Printing Office. 4 Hawkins, J.D. and Weiss, J.G. 1985. The social development model: An integrated approach to delinquency prevention. Journal of Primary Prevention. 6, 73-97. 5 Werner, E. 1984. Resilient children. Young Children. 40. Pp 68-72. 6 Werner, E. 1992. The children of Kauai. Resiliency and recovery in adolescence and adulthood. Journal of Adolescent Health, 13 262-268. 7 Tierny, J.T., Grossman, J.B. and Resch, N. 1995. Making a difference: An impact study of Big Brothers/Big Sisters. Philadelphia, Pa: Public/Private Ventures. 8 Taylor, A., LoSciuto, L. Hilbert ,S. and Fox, M. 1999. The mentoring factor: An outcome evaluation of Across Ages. In V. Kuehne (ed.) Intergenerational Programs: Understanding What we Have Created. Family and Youth series. (pp.77-99) Family and Youth Series. Haworth Press. Binghamton, N.Y. 9 Taylor A & Dryfoos J. 1999. Creating safe passage: Elder mentors and vulnerable youth. Generations, Vol. 22 (4): 43-48.
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ODCCP Studies on Drugs and Crime MO
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This document has been prepared by
Page 5 and 6: Foreward It gives me great pleasure
Page 7 and 8: Acknowledgements: IV This report wa
Page 9 and 10: Margareta Nilson Head of Department
Page 11 and 12: Executive Summary VIII The adoption
Page 13 and 14: 1. Introduction 1.1 Background The
Page 15 and 16: INTRODUCTION 1.2 Aims and objective
Page 17 and 18: INTRODUCTION The BRQ is a global in
Page 19 and 20: INTRODUCTION ● Response rate: The
Page 21 and 22: 2. A case for drug abuse prevention
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Page 29 and 30: OVERVIEW About half of all Governme
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Page 33 and 34: OVERVIEW demand reduction work cons
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given that these entities in many i
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DEFINITIONS Drug Abuse/Use In the c
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DEFINITIONS ● Universal Preventio
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