Broad Overview of Too Good for Drugs

Skill development is at the core of Too Good for Drugs, a universal K-12 prevention education program designed to mitigate the risk factors and enhance protective factors related to alcohol, tobacco, and other drug (ATOD) use. The lessons introduce and develop social and emotional skills for making healthy choices, building positive friendships, developing self-efficacy, communicating effectively, and resisting peer pressure and influence.

Too Good for Drugs teaches five essential social and emotional learning skills, which research has linked with healthy development and academic success:

• Setting Reachable Goals

• Making Responsible Decisions

• Bonding with Pro-Social Others

• Identifying and Managing Emotions

• Communicating Effectively

Kindergarten-5th Grade (Elementary School)

At the elementary school level, additional skills and developmental topics build on the core skill set to broaden the student’s sense of self-efficacy and confidence.  Lesson designs are tailored to the intellectual, cognitive, and social development of the student.  Interactive games and activities help students visualize and apply the strategies and skills directly so they can begin to apply them in their daily life right away. These additional concepts include:

• Managing Mistakes and Disappointment

• Resisting Peer Pressure

• Understanding Peer Influence

• Making Healthy Choices

Substance use and its effect on the body are introduced when  developmentally appropriate.  In the youngest grades, the lessons develop an understanding of what is healthy to put in the body and what is not.  This foundation prepares students for discussions about tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use in later elementary years.

• Safe Use of Medicines - Grades K - 5

• Effects of Nicotine Use - Grades 2 - 5

• Effects of Alcohol Use - Grades 3 - 5

• Effects of Marijuana and THC Use - Grade 5

6th-8th Grade (Middle School)

oo Good for Drugs empowers teens to meet the challenges of middle school life fostering confidence and building resistance to substance abuse. Students set and reach more complex goals and, in the process, develop and practice stronger decision-making skills and effective-communication skills.

Students also learn to identify and manage their emotions and the emotions of others so they can better relate to others and seek to associate with positive peer groups. Too Good for Drugs addresses environmental and developmental risk factors related to alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs through the development of knowledge, skills, and attitudes teens need to make healthy decisions consistent with their healthy  goals.

Substance use topics are discussed in the context of expectations, peer pressure and influence, and the role of the media. In particular, more complex social challenges and influences that present a greater risk for escapism and risky behavior are explored and met with strategies for managing those situations in a positive and healthy way.

Interactive games and activities create an experiential learning environment so students can learn and apply the skills in the classroom setting.

Additional skills and developmental topics build on the core social skill set to broaden the student’s sense of self-efficacy and confidence and are tailored to the intellectual, cognitive, and social development of the student. 

• Media Literacy and Media Influence

• Resisting Peer Pressure

• Understanding Peer Influence

• Understanding Addiction

• Complex Social and Dating Relationships

• Exploring Risk Taking and Differentiating Healthy and Unhealthy Risks

Substance use and its effects on the body are  introduced when developmentally appropriate. More complex discussions are introduced at the Middle School level and progress in depth as the students mature.

• Safe Use of Prescription and OTC drugs

• Effects of Nicotine Use including ENDS

• Effects of Alcohol Use

• Effects of Marijuana and THC Use

• Effects of Street Drugs including Opioids and Stimulants

9th-12th Grade (High School)

Too Good for Drugs in High School applies real world challenges teens face in high school to explore practical guidance for understanding the negative health effects related to prescription drug misuse, underage drinking, marijuana abuse, opioid abuse, and nicotine use. Students also explore the stages of addiction and the risks associated with experimentation.

Social Emotional skill development is at the core of Too Good to promote social awareness and self-awareness to equip teens to evaluate the social and peer influences they face as well as the internal pressures to take unhealthy risks to fit in with their peers or to escape. Interactive activities challenge students to explore healthy alternatives to unhealthy risks as they work to reach their goals.

Additional skills and developmental topics build on the core social skill set to broaden the student’s sense of self-efficacy and confidence and are tailored to the intellectual, cognitive, and social development of the student. 

• Media Literacy and Media Influence

• Resisting Peer Pressure

• Understanding Peer Influence

• Understanding Addiction

• Complex Social and Dating Relationships

• Exploring Risk Taking and Differentiating Healthy and Unhealthy Risks

Substance use and its effect on the body are introduced through more complex discussions  around the effect of substance use on health, life, academic, and career goals.

• Safe Use of Prescription and OTC drugs

• Effects of Nicotine Use including ENDS

• Effects of Alcohol Use

• Effects of Marijuana and THC Use

• Effects of Street Drugs including Opioids and Stimulants

The 6 schools we partner with for our School-Based Prevention Programs:

1. Cobleskill-Richmond Central School District

2. Gilboa-Conesville Central School Dristrict

3. Jefferson Central School District

4. Middleburgh Central School District

5. Schoharie Central School District

6. Sharon Springs Central School District