TALKING ABOUT PEER PRESSURE (TAPP)
When a student enters middle school, peers become increasingly important to that individual's life and the decisions he or she makes. The TAPP Program (formerly known as Peer Education) uses the positive influences of peers to teach about drugs, alcohol, tobacco, and most importantly, how to resist peer pressure and make healthy decisions. Since 1990, TAPP has been training young people to help each other make better choices.
High school students accepted into TAPP go through training and then work together to deliver a series of five interactive workshops to students in 6th and 7th grade. The workshops convey factual information about the risks of alcohol and drugs and about the realities of life in high school. The Peer Educators begin discussions by talking about their own experiences resisting peer pressure or about real consequences that can result from poor decisions. There are currently over 60 Peer Educators leading workshops in Dryden, Groton, Lansing, Newfield, and Trumansburg for over 500 middle school students.
High School students join TAPP for a variety of reasons. Some want to make a difference, some have personal experience with drugs and alcohol and want to educate others, and some just want to help others learn to adopt a healthy and happy lifestyle.
Research on peer education programs reflects that the benefits of the peer education model reach the educators as well as the audience they speak to. The Peer Educators in TAPP gain leadership skills, find a group of students with similar interests and values, and often find that their position as a role model helps them continue to make healthy decisions.
OPEN MINDS PROGRAM
The Open Minds Program is a 4-hour interactive workshop that provides education focused on reducing the risks posed by underage drinking. Young people referred to the workshop meet mandated requirements and are also challenged to examine their own patterns of alcohol use. In this unique setting, participants learn about the risks of drinking and come to understand the distinction between alcohol use, abuse and dependence. Participants also learn about social norms, which highlight the gap between students' perceptions of alcohol use among their peers, and how much their peers really consume. The result is that participants leave with ideas about how to reduce their risks, or they may also have self identified an alcohol or other drug problem if they have one.
Most participants are referred by the court system, the disciplinary arm of their university or another authority. Students are typically referred after having been charged with an offense such as: underage drinking, attempting to purchase alcohol with a false I.D., public drunkenness, or a similar substance related violation.
The Open Minds Workshop is a program offered by The Alcohol & Drug Council of Tompkins County that provides basic alcohol and addiction awareness education for young adults. Workshops are offered one Saturday a month from 8:30am to 12:30pm. Cost of attendance is $150.00. Call ADC for specific dates at (607) 274-6288.
DRUG FREE WORKPLACE PROGRAM
What can employers do to combat drug and alcohol abuse and its many detrimental effects on the workplace, such as decreased productivity and increased accidents, turnover, absenteeism, and worker’s compensation costs?
The Alcohol and Drug Council has developed Drug Free Workplace presentations for local businesses. These educational programs have been received well by the staff and management and seen positive outcomes. Comments from an administrator at one of these businesses wrote “Your multimedia presentation incorporating two presenters, overheads, videos and handouts was very effective. If I measure the success of the presentation by the interest and conversations initiated as a result of the workshop, then your effort was a complete success.”
An important step that the Alcohol and Drug Council can also assist with is helping companies to develop a formal written policy against drug and alcohol abuse. We can also tailor a program to meet the specific needs of a business.
