Les Clés pour l'adolescence, un programme de promotion de la ...

Impact of the Lion’s Quest, Skills for Adolescence Program on the
Rockland Public School Community
School report
This document is a subreport presenting the results of a study that took place in the Rockland Public
School (RPS) community. It follows a global report that was written in French and titled Les Clés pour
l’adolescence, un programme de promotion de la santé et de la santé mentale : un enjeu du
développement social positif des adolescents en milieu scolaire.
The following pages present and discuss the results of interviews conducted with a member of the
Rockland Public School teaching staff, nine students and four of their parents in the winter, spring and
summer of 2010 during an evaluation phase of Lion’s Quest, Skills for Adolescence. The students met in
interviews were in Grade 8 and 9 in 2010; they participated in the program in 2008-2009.
Known in French as Clefs pour l’adolescence, this program seeks to prevent or at least delay the
consumption of alcohol and/or the taking of drugs during adolescence. As a program geared toward
promoting physical as well as mental health, Lion’s Quest sets out to ensure that youth: 1) learn how to
asset themselves better, manage their emotions and resist peer pressure; 2) develop a deeper sense of
responsibility; 3) improve their conflict resolution skills; and 4) find more effective ways to intervene
with their peers who have begun to consume. The program, which lays foundations for the positive and
healthy social development of adolescents, will also introduce activities that empower the school to
reinforce positive behaviours that young people adopt.
Among many findings summarized herein, we analyze the responses to interview questions that most
clearly underscored the strengths and weaknesses of the program as expressed by the teacher,
students and parents. We will also look beyond the answers given to uncover the collective picture of
this pedagogical experience in their strictest sense to examine spontaneous perceptions that emerge
therefrom. These in turn formed the basis of a number of recommendations for improving program
implementation.
Context
Anglophones account for 32 per cent of the total population of Rockland and are therefore a linguistic
minority when considered from a purely numerical angle (http://en.clarence-rockland.com). RPS is the
only anglophone public elementary school in the community providing Grade 7 and 8, junior high, and
offers a French-language immersion program.
The study cast light on a teacher’s personal commitment to inspiring a sense of belonging within the
school and the whole community and in stressing the importance of collaboration and responsibility as
citizenship values. The students and parents interviewed appear to subscribe to this concept of
community spirit.
The school introduced the Lion’s Quest program for its Grade 7 and 8 students. It comprises numerous
workshops directed towards stress management, emotional self-control, organizational skills, alcohol
and drug use, among others. In order to learn more about the impact of the program on participants,
our research team interviewed nine students (five in Grade 8 in 2010 and four Grade 9 students who