The Toward No Drug Abuse Program - Hero

The Toward No Drug Abuse Program

The Toward No Drug Abuse Program has been integrated into the 9th grade curriculum at RCHS (Reed-Custer High School) and has been taught at the 10th grader level at neighboring WHS (Wilmington High School) since 2014.

Project TND is an effective, interactive classroom-based substance abuse prevention program that is based on more than two decades of successful research at the University of Southern California. Project TND focuses on three factors that predict tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use, violence-related behaviors, and other problem behaviors among youth, including:

  • Motivation factors (i.e., students' attitudes, beliefs, expectations, and desires regarding drug use)
  • Skills (effective communication, social self-control, and coping skills)
  • Decision-making (i.e., how to make decisions that lead to health-promoting behaviors)

Project TND includes 12 classroom-based sessions. Each session is 40 to 50 minutes in length. Each session includes a review of the previous session, a primary activity, and a review of the activity. The method utilized for reviews and summaries is the TND Game, in which teams of students compete for points by answering questions about the curriculum material.

Overall, the sessions are highly interactive, with the use of the Socratic method, classroom discussions, skill demonstrations, role-playing, and psychodrama techniques throughout the curriculum.

Target Audience

Project TND targets high school youth, ages 14 to 19. The program has proved successful when implemented in regular as well as alternative (continuation) high schools, with students from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Program Objectives

At the completion of this program, students will be able to:

  • Stop or reduce the use of cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana, and hard drugs (i.e., cocaine, hallucinogens, depressants, amphetamines, etc)
  • Stop or reduce weapon carrying and victimization
  • State accurate information about the consequences of drug use and abuse, including environmental, social, physiological, and emotional consequences
  • Demonstrate behavioral and cognitive coping skills
  • Make a personal commitment regarding drug use