Friendly PEERsuasion
Grades: Girls Age 11 to 14
Contact:
Sarah Riester
Girls, Inc., National Resource Center
441 West Michigan Street
Indianapolis, IN
Phone: 317/634-7546
Fax: 317/634-3024
E-mail: sriester@girls-inc.org
Friendly PEERsuasion is a leadership and substance abuse prevention program,
based on the social influence and life skills models of prevention, designed to
help girls ages 11 through 14 acquire knowledge, skills, and support systems to
avoid substance abuse. Underlying Friendly PEERsuasion is the theory that girls
who are prepared to teach other children not to use substances would be less at
risk of using these substances themselves. Through a process of "anticipatory
socialization" (seeing themselves as future leaders), the girls trained to become
PEERsuaders would be more likely to identify with the values and norms expressed
by the staff than girls who had not undergone the training. The fundamental purpose
is to build girls’ capacity to become adults who are responsible, confident,
economically independent, and personally fulfilled.
In the first phase, middle school girls participate in 14 biweekly, hour-long
sessions facilitated by a trained adult leader. Through hands-on, interactive
activities such as games and group discussions, they learn about the short-
and long-term effects of substance abuse, experience healthy ways to manage
stress, practice skills for making responsible decisions about licit and illicit
drug use, and prepare to become peer leaders. After completing this phase, girls
are certified as "PEERsuaders." In the second phase of the program, small teams
of PEERsuaders plan and implement 8 to 10 half-hour sessions of substance abuse
prevention activities for children ages 6 through 10. Working with their adult
leaders, PEERsuaders draw on the skills and activities introduced in the first
phase of the program and their own experiences and creativity to present factual
information and to model and practice skills, attitudes, and behaviors related to
substance abuse prevention.
The program significantly reduced the incidence of drinking among participants
and the onset of drinking among participants who had not previously drunk alcohol.
The treatment group participants significantly increased leadership skills, stress
-reducing skills, and communication skills. Treatment group participants also
showed a significantly lower incidence of favorable attitudes toward drinking,
and were more likely to leave gatherings where people were drinking alcohol. The
program led participants to disengage from peers who smoked or took drugs.
Center for Substance Abuse Prevention,
Effective Program, 2003