Young people benefit most from a positive school culture that brings out the best in students. Everyone has an important role to play in creating and maintaining a healthy school environment, including board members, teachers, other school staff, public health, police, parent councils and parents.

In recognition of this shared responsibility, through a collection of links to a variety of programs, activities, and services, the Take Action in Secondary Schools Educator’s Guide to Substance Use Prevention supports schools and their surrounding communities in learning about and addressing substance use within their unique and diverse school community.

The following are creative activities that can address substance use and abuse not only within the Health and Physical Education Curriculum but within in a variety of subject areas. It is hoped that these suggestions will inspire other ideas that can be implemented in your school and we encourage you to share these ideas with other teachers.

Cross-Curricular Teaching Ideas

English

• Cite examples of the attitudes society exhibits toward the use of substances. Do the attitudes and behaviours of those who use conform to the values of the larger society?

Math

• Survey students anonymously about their personal drug use and their perception of drug use in the school population. Compare real to perceived statistics. (e.g., Students believe that 80% of students smoke; the survey shows that 20% of students smoke.)

Chemistry

• Study the cancer causing chemicals found in marijuana and the impact of cancer causing chemicals used in grow houses and hydroponic labs. Explore the myth that marijuana is safe because it is “all natural”.

Physics

• Prior to the current bans on tobacco use, restaurants had smoking sections. Applying the laws of physics, did smoking sections help to protect health?

Music

• Examine lyrics from songs and discuss references made to substances and alcohol. Explore the differences according to the substance identified, the type of music (e.g., rock, pop, rap, country) and the decade the song was written.

Business

• Examine Canadian and U.S. regulations as they relate to alcohol and tobacco. How do these regulations hold up under the international trade agreements?

• Discuss the implications of alcohol or drug misuse on work performance including safety issues such as the impact on co-workers, risks when using heavy equipment.

Economics

• Some tobacco growers are replacing their tobacco crops with other crops because of decrease in demand. Research and compare the current selling price of tobacco vs. other possible crops (e.g., barley, ginseng, peanuts).

Civics

• Research the amount of taxation on alcohol and tobacco products. Should government use all tax dollars obtained from the sale of alcohol and tobacco directly for health care and substance abuse prevention efforts?

History

• Tobacco was first used by North American Natives and brought to Europe by early explorers. Explore the history of tobacco use and its influence on society.

Law

• As Canadian lawmakers put tighter restrictions on where a person can smoke, debate the pros and cons of these laws.

Media Studies

• Discuss the impact of alcohol advertising on billboards, buses, subways, restaurants, etc. Include an assessment of the proximity of billboards and the frequency of seeing ads in the neighbourhood surrounding the school/community centre. Research the regulation for billboards and schools.

Source: Take Action in Secondary Schools. Available January 2007. Visit www.ophea.net/takeactionwhatsnew.cfm. Additional activity ideas for each of these subjects will be included in Take Action in Secondary Schools.

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