A NEW APPROACH TO PREVENTING SUBSTANCE ABUSE

 

SUBSTANCE ABUSE PREVENTION:  PROACTIVE TRAINING

HOW TO SAY NO TO WHAT I CALL THE “DREAM-KILLERS”

 

Kathy Hogan, Quincy, Mass.

kathydulleahogan@aol.com

 

PROPOSAL:     Teach kids how they can say no to drink and/or drugs with conviction and confidence.  Drink and drugs can be dream-killers.

ANALOGIES:  

DRIVING           We learn to drive by taking lessons to drive safely, studying rules of the road, and taking a driving test before being issued a license to drive a potentially dangerous vehicle.  However, drink and drugs are dangerous, yet young people are not given the same kind of preparation. 

PLAYING TEAM SPORTS        Sports teams consist of offense and defense.  Defensive players are trained to play defense.  However, we do not train kids to play defense when it comes to dealing with this offense:  an offense in which drink and/or drugs are offered.

RATIONALE: In childhood kids do things that excite them, that make them happy, or that they simply enjoy – yet drink or drugs are not part of this.  Later on, when young people are invited to try drink or drugs, they’re often persuaded it will make them feel good.   Remind kids they already know how to find pleasure in life in a natural way.   Train them so they have something to draw upon – experience saying ‘no’ and a response in which they have conviction – when faced with persuasion.  Other reasons to say no can be explored such as the undesirable prospect of being kicked off their sports team.  

NOTE:    How well this will work with children from abusive families, with mental health problems, or with parents who have substance abuse problems themselves is not clear.     By itself this might not be a cure-all, but it is worth trying,  if for no other reason than to keep the good times in the forefront of their minds.  At its best, it could be the saving grace.

PROCEDURE STAGES:

First:                   Brainstorm things that as a child you enjoy, excite you, make you happy, or just bring you contentment.

Second:             Brainstorm things someone may say to you to get you to try a drink or drug.

Third:                 Keep in mind that you have had experiences that bring you pleasure, and brainstorm responses you can use to say no.  Explore various reasons.  Be aware that bullying reactions can follow as well as peer pressure; prepare the children for this, too.

Fourth:              Role play in pairs, the first person acting as the person offering something, the second person as the one being offered something.  Then take turns and reverse roles.

Fifth:                   Members of the whole group share with each other.

TO FOLLOW:                                Lesson Plans/Training Plans for each stage

                                PROPOSAL FOR RE-USE OF 

                    QUINCY’S EARLY CHILDHOOD CENTER:

A THEME SCHOOL BASED ON 

GATEWAY TO SCIENCE: SPORTS AND GAMES

 

Kathy Dullea Hogan

http://sportscience-kathy.blogspot.com

 

 

MY MESSAGE TO YOU, READER:

The plan proposed below is certainly something I want to see happen.  However, equally important is to introduce this revolutionary idea to people, to you, to get conversations going, and to spur people to investigate and implement this approach on their own and with others.

BACKGROUND:

Almost 25 years have passed since I began raising funds for the Father Maurice Dullea, S.J., Athletic Scholarship at Boston College in 1996.  This is when I began to think about the connection between physics and sports.  Since kids already like to play games and sports, it would be easy to incorporate physics (and geometry) into what they already know instinctively and physically. What is the link?  The link is learning the name of the force involved!  Language is the connection between the activity and the brain’s understanding of the principle.  Arrange for kids to acquire basic physics this way, and they’ll start learning more on their own.  Painlessly while having fun – and gaining confidence.

A retired teacher, I collect games, books, articles, and much more that promote this approach.  Some I’ve used at the South Shore Science Festival since 2015 (at 180 Old Colony Avenue when the Quincy Center for Innovation was there).  For example, string-can telephones are always a big hit while learning about vibration.  I’ve also done volunteer work at QCAP, Kenny School in Dorchester, and Science Week at Saint Agatha School in Milton and incorporated this theme, often done through finding science in stories.  It’s time to put it all into practice – a theme school.

Eileen Leister, hula hooper extraordinaire (pink sweater), plus a science festival attendee who demonstrates her talents producing torque -- the turning force -- with many hula hoops all at once.  2016 South Shore Science Festival.                Kathy Hogan photo

 

PROPOSAL:

Implementing this is the next step.  Since reading that Quincy is to make changes vis a vis the Amelio Della Chiesa Early Childhood Center, this is what I would like to suggest. Integrate this theme school into one of the two options for the ECC – create a city-wide kindergarten center or relieve space shortage in elementary schools.  Which one?

Kindergarten works as it’s a good age to start, and it would be city-wide.

Elementary works, too, because, ranging from kindergarten to grade 5,   curriculum would get a chance to be developed further as kids get older.

 

DETAILS:

I envision one room to be set aside as the “Gateway to Science,” which would be something like a library or a special type of gym. 

It would have stations around the room with space in the middle for activities.  The stations will have different science themes, with a card on how to carry out each activity.  

For example,

Center of gravity/mass:  Various games and challenges (see illustration below). 

Torque:  Hula hoops, jump ropes.

Measuring: Yard/meter stick, food scale, measuring cups, Newton apples, etc. 

Light and color:  Prism, CD (for light refraction in the grooves), glitter; paints, chalk. 

Sound and music:  String-can telephones, musical instruments. 

Other themes and other equipment:  Energy.  Gravity.  Collision. Inertia. Friction. Magnetism.  Potential and kinetic energy.  Golf equipment, soccer ball, football, magnets, Slinky.

Books:  General reference books, children’s stories, leaflets that I’ve written, videos.

 

      Physics LAB               http://dev.physicslab.org

 Teach tricks to your friends that find the center of mass (not always where you think it is).

 

The next step is to write the curriculum.*  Many subjects lend themselves to a cross-curriculum approach, e.g., reading, with activities to reinforce the science found in the story.  Music class can be enhanced by a greater appreciation of vibrations. Public speaking can be eased into by a student showing and explaining the above trick he’s learned.  Gateway to Science is the teacher’s friend!

Outside what is now the ECC, the playground can be adapted with names for the rides.  For example, the slide could be called “Gravity Glide.”  The xylophones might be called “Very Good Vibrations.”  Additional information can be put on signs, such as explaining friction on the slide (quality of the ride depends on whether you’re wearing long pants or shorts, whether you or the slide is wet or dry, etc.).

 

Recommend:  Collaborate with a college with an education and science major to strengthen this approach.  Do a research project and write it up for a professional journal (preferably from the National Science Teaching Association).   This school would be good for teachers in training to do observations and student teaching.

*To be developed next.

Finding science in stories is one of the strategies used in Gateway to Science, followed up with an activity to reinforce the science.  Here The Rainbow Fish was read at the 2017 South Shore Science Festival by volunteers Denise Duncan and JoJo Foley.  Bruno Barroso and Nandan Nair approved! Other times,  Deputy Dan and the Bank Robbers offered lots of jumping activities, and Curious George at the Aquarium offered throwing activities to learn about energy v. gravity.        Kathy Hogan photo

 

WHAT NEXT?  MY GOAL:

This school can become a model, not only for other such schools but for camps and after-school programs. This approach can reach kids who may not have a good opinion of themselves academically, yet through their games and sports they really do get the physics and just need to be shown how much they do know.  Our precious planet needs dedicated scientists who can help restore a healthier Earth.  My ultimate goal is to develop:

C.A.M.P.S. (Center for the Advancement of Math and Physics through Sports)

C.A.M.P.S. will offer camps, of course, that offer physics in games and sports; professional development for teachers, coaches and parents; after-school programs, and more.  C.A.M.P.S. will be a resource for training education majors to use this approach.  C.A.M.P.S., too, will be a model for other such programs.

There is nothing like this anywhere, and it is needed, but I can’t do it on my own. Quincy can be the leader.  What will you do to help make this happen?

 

Volunteer Bonnie Gorman introduces curious visitors to the unusual Galileo thermometer in a tall glass cylinder before turning their attention to the colorful Slinky and the physics lessons it holds.  2018 South Shore Science Festival.                Kathy Hogan photo

 

Kathy Dullea Hogan was happy to discover her vocation to be teaching when she was 39, and so she went back to college in 1984 to get her degree in elementary and special education at Bridgewater State College.   Kathy is the niece of Father Dullea (1896-1984), the inspiration for Gateway to Science: Sports and Games.  She can be reached at kathydulleahogan@aol.com