Effective prevention education is one of the most impactful ways schools and learning communities can create a safe, supportive, and secure learning environment. Data consistently shows that classroom- and school-based prevention education, when following best practices, significantly reduces high-risk behaviors among young people. At 3rd Millennium Classrooms, our prevention education courses are designed to engage and challenge students while providing them with the knowledge and skills they need to make positive choices in their lives.
Research tells us that the most effective way to implement prevention education is to provide awareness training to adults, including parents, school staff, and other caregivers, as well as awareness and skills training for students. This can be accomplished by creating and implementing a comprehensive prevention education program that addresses high-risk behaviors and spreads awareness around your campus. However, if your school or district doesn’t currently offer prevention education, it can be difficult to know how or where to begin. In this article, we’ll discuss how you can implement prevention education on your campus and consider what your next steps are.
How can I implement prevention education on my campus?
Because students spend such a large portion of their day in school, schools share the responsibility of ensuring that students are protected, healthy, and happy. Because of their frequent contact with students, teachers and other school staff are in an optimal position to prevent, identify, and assist victims of child abuse or children who are suffering from other issues. This means the most critical step towards implementing effective prevention education on your campus is going to be investing in and training the administrators, the teachers, and other school staff members.
#1 Assess Need
The first step in implementing prevention education on your campus is to assess the needs of your students. What high-risk behaviors are most prevalent among your student population? What prevention education topics would be most beneficial for your students to learn about? Once you’ve identified the needs of your students, you can begin to look for prevention education programs that address those specific needs.
Common prevention topics include vaping, underage drinking, cannabis use, and relationship concerns like sexting, coercion, or aggressive behaviors.
#2 Do Your Research
Make sure you research prevention education programs that will be a good fit for your school. There are many prevention education programs available, so it is important to take the time to find one that aligns with your school’s values and needs. There are also several things to consider when choosing a prevention education program, such as:
- Efficacy: does the prevention education program have any research to back up its claims?
- Developmental Appropriateness: is the prevention education program appropriate for the age group of your students?
- Flexibility: can the prevention education program be adapted to fit the unique needs of your school or student population?
When choosing a prevention education program for your campus, it’s important to select one that is developmentally appropriate and evidence-based. Developmentally appropriate prevention education programs are designed specifically for the age group of your students. Evidence-based prevention education programs have been shown, through research, to be effective in reducing high-risk behaviors among youth.
#3 Get Stakeholder Buy-In
Another important step in implementing prevention education on your campus is to get buy-in from all stakeholders. This includes teachers, administrators, parents, and students. It’s important that everyone is on board with the prevention education program you’ve chosen, and that they are equally invested in its success.
One way to do this is to involve stakeholders in the selection process of the prevention education program. This will help ensure that everyone feels a sense of ownership and responsibility for the program’s success.
Another way to get stakeholder buy-in is to provide training for all stakeholders on the prevention education program you’ve selected. This will ensure that everyone knows how to properly implement the program and that they understand its goals and objectives.
#4 Create a Plan
Once you’ve selected a prevention education program and have buy-in from all stakeholders, it’s time to create an implementation plan. Schedule a time frame to offer the courses. It’s important to be as specific as possible in your implementation plan so that there is no confusion about how and when courses will be offered.
Prevention education is an important part of any school’s curriculum. By implementing prevention education on your campus, you can help reduce the prevalence of high-risk behaviors among your students. If you’re interested in implementing prevention education on your campus, make sure to assess the needs of your students, do your research, get buy-in from all stakeholders, and create a detailed implementation plan. Prevention education can help make your school a safer and more positive place for everyone involved.
Let 3rd Millennium help
3rd Millennium Classrooms proudly partners with hundreds of schools every single year to provide engaging, high-quality, research-driven, online courses to students across the country. Our courses have helped millions of young people make better decisions about alcohol, drugs, and interpersonal relationships, so let us help you today:
Assess Need
Our suite of courses cover topics including underage drinking, vaping, cannabis use, prescription drug misuse, health and wellbeing, consent, healthy relationships, self-esteem, and more.
With our subscription pricing model, your school can bring the full suite of prevention AND intervention courses to your campus for a flat rate. Your school or district will have the benefits of unlimited enrollments for a year for one low price.
Learn more about 3rd Millennium Classrooms’ prevention education courses here.
Do Your Research
We’ve done this work for you! Our courses are fully researched and include up-to-date norms and statistics as well as the latest in prevention information. All of our courses incorporate evidence-based behavior-change strategies that are proven to reduce high-risk behavior. Learn more about our evidence-based strategies!
Get Stakeholder Buy-in
Our courses can be reviewed quickly for staff and faculty who are pressed for time. Or they can be reviewed in “student mode” for the full experience. Your staff can see how our personalized feedback tailors the course for each individual student.
Want to set up an online review or webinar for staff FAQ’s? Get all of your questions answered at once.
Create a Plan
We have worked with hundreds of schools in implementing prevention education and can provide suggestions and best practice recommendations.
We know each staff member wears many hats, and they do not need one more task! Staff will either send us a list of students to enroll – or they will give students a handout for self-enrollment through our website. Done!
