Keepin'
It REAL
Drug Resistance Strategies
Keepin'
It REAL is an evidence-based drug prevention program designed
to increase drug resistance skills among middle school students.
Keepin' It REAL is a video-enhanced, multicultural program
grounded in students' cultural norms. It teaches youth how to live
drug-free lives, drawing on their personal strengths and the cultural
strengths of their families and communities. Principles of multiculturalism,
including representation and inclusion, are key elements that contribute
to the program's effectiveness.
The
program teaches students how to say NO to substance use through
practical, easy-to-remember and use strategies represented by the
acronym REAL — Refuse, Explain, Avoid and Leave. Students
learn how to recognize risks, value their personal perceptions and
feelings, make choices that are consistent with their personal and
cultural values and act assertively to stick to their drug-free
choices. The REAL resistance strategies are applicable across a
variety of risky situations.
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The
curriculum consists of 10 sequential lessons designed to be taught
in 45 minutes each over 10 weeks. The interactive lesson activities
involve students in cooperative learning, group discussion, problem
solving and roleplays as they learn, practice and demonstrate the
REAL resistance strategies. The lessons are as follows:
Lesson
1: Options & Choices
Lesson 2: Risks
Lesson 3: Communication & Conflict
Lesson 4: Refuse
Lesson 5: Explain
Lesson 6: Avoid
Lesson 7: Leave
Lesson 8: Personal Health Views and Beliefs
Lesson 9: Feelings
Lesson 10: Support Networks
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| What
Makes Keepin' It REAL Unique? |
Keepin'
It REAL is a culturally grounded curriculum. This means that
the lessons and activities are based on the notion that students
already know a lot about communicating and have strengths that come
from their cultures. Universal messages don't always work for all
students — research shows that students from different cultures
communicate in different ways.
To
gain effectiveness, this program integrates the diverse resources
and communication styles that students bring to the classroom. This
program teaches skills that students will be comfortable integrating
into their own communication styles. They can choose the strategies
that will work best for them, based on their own cultural backgrounds.
The
Keepin' It REAL video segments are unique and key learning
tools that were produced for youth by youth, with stories based
on actual student experiences. The video segments specifically demonstrate
how students can use the REAL strategies to resist drug use in real-life
situations. Students can recognize themselves in the prevention
message and can see solutions that are sensitive to their unique
cultural environments.
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| Evidence
of Effectiveness |
Keepin'
It REAL underwent rigorous evaluation conducted over a 48-month
period. The evaluation involved 35 public schools (24 treatment
schools and 11 control schools) which serve primarily Hispanic,
white and black students. The curriculum was found to be effective
in preventing substance abuse (Hecht et al., 2003).
Overall,
the program produced significant effects in reducing gateway drug
use (alcohol, tobacco and marijuana), increasing attitudes that
support not using drugs, strengthening norms that support drug-free
choices, and increasing resistance strategies useful in avoiding
drug use.
Compared
to control group students, Keepin’ It REAL students reported:
- Better
behavioral and psychosocial outcomes, including reduction and
cessation of substance use, increased repertoire of resistance
skills, more frequent use of those skills, and internalizing mediators
of substance use such as highly developed and well-articulated
personal anti-drug norms.
- Significantly
less substance use, especially alcohol.
- Increased
adoption of strategies to resist using alcohol, tobacco and marijuana.
- Retention
of unfavorable attitudes against someone their age using substances.
- Perception
that their peers' substance use experimentation was significantly
less than previously believed.
Compared
to the control group, at 2-year follow-up, Keepin' It REAL
students reported:
- 32
- 44% reduction in marijuana, tobacco and alcohol use
- 30
- 38% increase in knowledge about and negative attitudes toward
drug use
- 29
- 34% decrease in intent to accept substances
The
intervention had its greatest impact on use of alcohol, the substance
used by the largest and most rapidly growing number of students.
The research findings clearly showed that infusing cultural elements
and values into prevention programs appears quite beneficial. The
process of incorporating a representative level of relevant cultural
elements into the prevention message appeared critical to the program's
success.
For
more information supporting the effectiveness of Keepin' It
REAL, see the references below:
Gosin,
M., F. F. Marsiglia and M. L. Hecht. 2003. Keepin' It REAL: A
drug resistance curriculum tailored to the strengths and needs
of pre-adolescents of the Southwest. Journal of Drug Education
33 (2): 119-142.
Hecht,
M. L., F. F. Marsiglia, E. Elek-Fisk, D. A. Wagstaff, S. Kulis
and P. Dustman. 2003. Culturally-grounded substance use prevention:
An evaluation of the Keepin' It REAL curriculum. Prevention
Science 4 (4): 233-248.
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