Decreasing children’s future substance abuse through prevention education
Markell Kunzelman, CFLE-P
By Markell Kunzelman, CFLE-P
Substance Abuse Prevention Specialist
Substance use treatment centers in the U.S. are overflowing with clients requesting treatment support, and the opioid epidemic continues to be a large problem. But what if we can prevent the heartbreak and devastation before it begins?
We’ve learned that using scare tactics and “just say no” campaigns with children don’t work for substance abuse prevention, but what has promise is prevention education. When children have accurate knowledge about drugs and alcohol, and their effects, they may be less likely to misuse these substances later.
Healthy Alternatives for Little Ones (HALO) — the evidence-based prevention program I run — has been effective in increasing knowledge among children ages 3–6 about making healthy choices and about the harmful effects of substance misuse.
The children’s families are involved, as well. Parents and caregivers receive weekly letters explaining what the children learned that week, and the program also provides resources to caregivers to help reinforce the messages children receive in the program. Teachers have witnessed the benefits of HALO in their classrooms, and we love to see how much the children’s knowledge grows when we compare their pre- and post-test results at the end of the program.
Research has shown that when we focus more on preventing a problem, we save time and resources that would have otherwise been used in intervention and treatment. I have hope that by continuing prevention efforts and reaching more people, we will be able to prevent substance abuse and mental health issues in adolescence and emerging adulthood.