Download Tough Crowd - Northland Coalition

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A tough crowd:
How to win over
teenagers when talking
about controversial
topics
Elise Bennett, MS, PLMFT
Adolescent, Individual and Family Therapist
When asked why they fear this audience,
1,000 adults replied with answers such as:
“They won’t care about what I have to say,”
“They won’t listen to me,” “I’m afraid of
them.”
ATOD topics are especially tricky to
migrate with teens but underage drinking
is not inevitable. We use our tone, our
presentation style, and our emotional
connection to our students to ensure that
they believe this. Teens already believe they are
+ experts in ATOD topics. We have to be careful not to take
for granted that they have been talking about drugs, and
have been are exposed to drug related propaganda and
gossip for many years before they end up in our
classroom.
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Challenge Them Right Off The Bat

Your students didn’t decide to participate in this lecture on
their own. This means that they have less of an investment in
participation- which is essential to keeping them engaged.

Turn this assumption on its head. to raise their hands or stand up.
Do SOMETHING to make sure that they realize that this is not just
curriculum fulfillment, but is information that impacts every
single student and their futures.
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Why “scared straight” does not
scare anyone straight
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“Controlled studies show that “Scared Straight” interventions are ineffective, and
even potentially harmful, for adolescents.” — Lilienfeld et al, 2010, p.225
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Scared Straight” emphasizes severity of punishment, but neglects two other
key components of deterrence theory — certainty and swiftness
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Youth already know that they aren’t going to die, fail all of their classes or
spend their life in jail so we lose credibility with these suggestions
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Use rates actually went down when television
stations stopped airing these “scary” prevention ads
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Exception to this rule: “Truth” Tobacco Campaign
because it shows real people with believable
consequences (ie: trach tubes, cancer)
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Understanding How
the Brain Works
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When we talk about topics that are difficult or triggering
(either because we have used in the past, been affected by
someone who has used, experienced peer pressure), our
brain goes in to FIGHT OR FLIGHT
The LEFT side of the brain
has an emphasis in logic
and reasoning. The RIGHT
side of the brain has an
emphasis in emotions and
creativity. It is important
that we keep both sides
engaged if we are going to
be impacted by a
message.
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The brain filters 99% of the information
coming from the senses. Two factors
strongly influence whether the brain
pays attention to a piece of information:
1.
If the information has meaning.
2.
If the information causes
an emotional response.
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Remember what is important
to a teenager

The Prefrontal Cortex makes the most changes during the teen
years in: ATTENTION, MOTIVATION, AND RISK-TAKING
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Studies have shown that teens
know when they are engaging
in risky behavior (like
unprotected sex, drinking,
or drugs). However, they
are more likely to think
Reward for Using
that the benefits of those (ie: popularity)
behaviors outweigh the
potential harm.
Consequences (ie:
threat to grades,
physical
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Inside the teen brain:
“I’M INVINCIBLE”

No teen believes they are going to get in a car
accident, get pregnant, or overdose.
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The teen brain is specifically “wired” to help navigate
adolescence and to take some of the risks necessary
to achieve independence from their parents. This
may help explain why teens often seek out new and
thrilling—sometimes dangerous—situations, including
drinking alcohol. It also offers a possible reason for why
teens act so impulsively, often not recognizing that their
actions can lead to serious problems.

Legality, possible future physical ailments, and even
potential consequences to their friendships matter less
than doing things that could end up humiliating them
in front of their peers (impaired judgment)
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The data paints a different picture
than what they perceive to be true
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When you share data with students, they often have a hard time
finding credibility in the numbers because of what they hear in the
hallways or see on social media. It is important to address these
discrepancies in real vs perceived behaviors.
“Who’s louder in the hallway on Monday morning?”
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But what if they have a good point?
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Debunk myths. Teens often argue that the “buzzed” feeling
that alcohol brings helps them deal with stress and makes them
feel better. While this may be true, it is a depressant that also can
cause sadness and anger.
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Marijuana organizations like NORML have done a great job of creating
websites and propaganda that give youth sound bites for arguing a prouse stance.
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Most of the tricks of logic and debate refute questions and attacks, but fail
to establish any true justification for a given idea. Focus on discussing
why your points are right (since they are based in fact) and rather than
why their points are wrong (which you may not be able to prove without
some research).
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“Hmmm, that is an interesting point. Let’s chat more about that at the end
of class”
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“I encourage all of you to continue to educate yourself on these topics,
just make sure you are using reliable sources that are not paid for with
pro-marijuana dollars”
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“Yeah, but did YOU drink
alcohol in high school?”
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Regardless of your choices about alcohol consumption in
high school, your job is to teach them about the impact of
THEIR OWN choices. This question is often a way for them to
normalize or create acceptability around their behavior.
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“I don’t know that it’s helpful
either way for me to share that.
The facts about alcohol use
and the teenage brain remain
the same.”
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My suggestion is to view this more as
“healthy choice promotion” rather
than “risky choice prevention”
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Positive thinking = positive behaviors
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Current research surrounding PR and Marketing says consumers
are more receptive to messaging that has a positive slant.
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Peer pressure, temptation and curiosity will be themes throughout
their lives so the skills we are teaching them now are most useful
when they have the ability to be applied to lots of topics.
10%
80%
10%
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Mental health promotion emphasizes two
key concepts: POWER AND RESILIENCE.
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POWER: a person’s, group’s or community’s sense of
control over life and the ability to be resilient
(Joubert & Raeburn, 1998)
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RESILIENCE: the ability to manage or cope with
significant adversity or stress in ways that are not only
effective, but may result in an increased ability to
respond to future adversity (Health Canada, 2000, p.8)
+ Possibilities of Activities to Incorporate
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Line Continuum
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Fist to Five
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Use pictures, videos and draw on the board
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Assign mini topics to small groups and have them be responsible for teaching
their peers that section of the lesson
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Give multiple choice questions to transition topics
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Top card
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Control Wheel
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ATOD Tic-Tac-Toe
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ATOD Scavenger Hunt
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Analyze how alcohol is portrayed in the media and on television with characters
their age
+ Additional Instructions for the Activities
listed in this Presentation
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Line Continuum: Create an imaginary line across the length of the
room. At one end, place a sign that reads “strongly agree.” At the other
end of the line place a sign that reads “strongly disagree.” Have the
students use their bodies to place themselves along the line based on
their stance to statements that you read aloud. Ask a few students from
each section to share why they chose to stand where they did.
(Example statements: Alcohol should be considered a drug. Drinking
helps people deal with their problems. People are more accepted if they
drink or smoke pot. An alcoholic with kidney failure should not be able to
receive a transplant.
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Fist to Five: Gauge the class’ answers or understanding on a topic by
having them all raise their arm in the air with anywhere between 0
(fist) to five fingers displayed.
(Example: “Close your eyes and show me on a scale between fist and five
how much knowledge you have about marijuana before today’s
conversation.”
+ Additional Instructions for the Activities
listed in this Presentation
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Top Card: Type current data and compelling facts on to small cards.
Break the room in to 4-6 groups depending on size of the class.
Give each group five cards. Each group reads their set of cards to
themselves and chooses the three that their peers most need to
know. Have them trade their two “discard” cards with another
group. This time have them choose the two cards (the same or new)
that their peers most need to know. Have them trade their three
“discard” cards with a different group. Finally, have them read read
over their new cards and choose their single most important card
for their peers to know. By this time, all of the cards should have
made it around to all of the groups to read. Take turns having each
group stand and read their “most important fact” and share why this
fact is so important.
+ Additional Instructions for the Activities
listed in this Presentation
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Suggested questions for incorporating in to your slides:
How would you classify each of the following drugs:
(choices: Hallucinogen, Depressant, Stimulant, Narcotic)
A. Marijuana
B. Alcohol
C. Oxycodone (Pain Killer)
D. Heroin
E. Ecstasy / MDMA
Our body loses how many days of athletic training in one night of binge drinking?
A. 0 C. 5
B. 1
D. 14
Teens who smoke marijuana every week have _____ the risk of depression than a
teen who does not.
Answer: DOUBLE
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Questions
Elise Bennett
816-343-4356
[email protected]