Footprints for Life

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Footprints for Life A Primary Prevention Program
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INRODUCTION
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What is Footprints for Life?
Footprints for Life is a six-week,
classroom-based primary prevention program. The
program is research-based and designed to build
developmental assets and teach skills through the
use of puppets and stories that feature real
life situations. Footprints for Life is
specifically designed to build students social
competencies. Footprints teaches the important
life skills that students in 2nd and 3rd grade
need to grow up with healthy behaviors and
attitudes.
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Why is Footprints for Life important?

• There is a lack of prevention programs designed
  for students in grades 2 and 3 that focus on
  preventing substance abuse and building social
  competencies.
• There is a strong need for prevention programming
  for young students. Research has demonstrated
  that students who showed early initiation of
  problem behavior drank alcohol or tried marijuana
  before the age of 13.

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Why is Footprints for Life important?

• Children who communicate regularly with their
  parents about daily activities are 67 less
  likely than those who do not communicate
  regularly with their parents to be involved in
  substance abuse.
• Developmental assets, particularly social
  competencies, have been associated with a
  decrease in problem behaviors such as substance
  abuse.
• 1 in 4 students under the age of 18 is raised in
  a home affected by substance abuse.

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Why is Footprints for Life designed for students
in 2nd and 3rd grade?

• Given research regarding the risks and prevalence
  of early use, it is critical to provide universal
  prevention services to students at a very early
  age.
• Since age of first use is between 10-12 years of
  age, Footprints for Lifereaches children before
  the initiation of use.

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DEVELOPMENTAL ASSETS
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What are developmental assets?
According to the Search Institute, developmental
assets are 40 key building blocks that are
critical for young peoples successful growth and
development.
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The Power of Assets to Protect from High-Risk
Behaviors
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The Power of Assets to Promote Positive Attitudes
and Behaviors
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The Gap in Assets Among Youth
The goal of Footprints For Life is to help young
children build a strong foundation of life skills
rooted in key social competencies.
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The Specific Assets Addressed in Footprints for
Life
Social Competencies

• Interpersonal Skills
• Peaceful Conflict Resolution
• Planning and Decision Making Practice
• Resistance Skills
• Cultural Competencies

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BENEFITS
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• Benefits for Teachers
• The lessons are specifically designed to
  facilitate students social and emotional
  development.
• The program provides teachers with a starting
  point for important discussions.
• Having an outside agency, such as Prevention Is
  Key present within the school, provides an
  additional resource for identifying potential
  problems.

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Benefits for Teachers and Administrators

• 80 of states and districts require schools to
  teach some lessons on ATOD
• Footprints for Life
• Enables schools to easily meet the New Jersey
  Core Curriculum Content Standards for
  Comprehensive Health and Physical Education
• Covers over 75 of the strand indicators for
  second grade (and over 50 for fourth grade!)
  wellness, integrated skills and drugs and
  medicine standards.

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• Benefits for Parents
• Worksheets provided after each lesson involve
  parents in their childs learning experience.
• The program opens the door for important
  discussions or teachable moments.
• The lessons aid in childs social and emotional
  development.

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• Benefits for Second and Third Graders
• As the age of first use for alcohol and tobacco
  is now between 10 and 12, Footprints gives
  students the tools they need to make healthy
  decisions regarding substance use and the time to
  practice these tools.
• The lessons reach students while their health
  related attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors are at
  a formative stage.
• Studies show that prevention needs to start early
  and be consistent.

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ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE ATOD PREVENTION EDUCATION
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Effective ATODPrevention Education

• Programs should
• Consist of multiple sessions
• Use interactive teaching methods
• Use developmentally appropriate materials
• Involve family and the community
• Include teacher training and support
• Provide normative information
• Be easy to implement

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Multiple Sessions

• Footprints for Life program format
• Six lessons are taught once per week.
• Each lesson is designed to be taught within a
  normal class period (38-45 minutes).

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Interactive Teaching Methods and Developmentally
Appropriate Materials

• The use of puppets and role-play activities
• Provides a non-threatening, fun way to learn
• Educates youth in an entertaining manner while
  building skills essential to a healthy life
• Introduces students to characters and a setting
  that is a familiar and to which they can
  relate

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Family and Community Involvement
Footprints for Life includes weekly homework and
educational sheets, allowing parents to work with
their child and reinforce the language and
techniques used throughout the 6 weeks of the
program.
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Teacher Training and Support

• Access to Footprints for Life website
• Handouts and other activities to supplement
  lessons
• Footprints for Life glossary of terms
• Jason Surks Memorial Prevention Resource Center
• Whats New for Schools - monthly electronic
  newsletter for educators
• Training _at_ NCADD

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Normative Information
The use of reallife situations in the Footprints
program make students realize that everyone gets
sad sometimes, conflicts happen, and that we all
sometimes make mistakes and bad decisions. These
situations are NORMAL and we SHOULD talk about
and practice these skills!
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Information that isEasy to Implement

• Footprints is delivered by a Prevention Educator
  or appropriate school personnel.
• All Prevention Educators are strongly encouraged
  to participate in curriculum training.
• All Prevention Educators will implement the
  program in the same manner.
• Curriculum tools will be used to measure
  implementation fidelity.

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Worldwide Access!

• Students, parents, teachers, and Prevention
  Educators can access the Footprints for Life
  website for additional learning opportunities and
  resources.

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MEET THE CHARACTERS
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Meet Pete the Porcupine
In Lesson 1, Pete helps the students learn about
feelings and I Messages.
Developmental Asset being addressed
Interpersonal Skills
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Meet Coach Katrina Kangaroo
Coach Katrina teaches the members of the team
about many important subjects in Lesson 2,
including conflict resolution and using the
Solution Stoplight.
Developmental Asset being addressed Peaceful
Conflict Resolution
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Meet Ricardo Raccoon
In Lesson 3, Ricardo learns to resist peer
pressure and think about the consequences when
making decisions.
Developmental Assets being addressed Planning
and Decision Making Practice Resistance Skills
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Meet Sarina Fox
The team learns about the consequences of smoking
in Lesson 4, when they see Sarina with a
cigarette.
Developmental Assets being addressed Planning
and Decision Making Practice Resistance Skills
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Meet Betsy Beaver
Betsy Beaver hurts her leg right before the
championship game! Lesson 5 is a perfect
opportunity to learn healthy coping skills.
Developmental Asset being addressed
Interpersonal Skills
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Meet Amir the Armadillo
The members of the team learn to respect people
of different backgrounds when Amir joins the
team! He has a lot to learn as the students
review in Lesson 6.
Developmental Asset being addressed Cultural
Competence
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What do teachers have to say about Footprints for
Life?

• Teachers felt that the Footprints for Life
• Facilitated enthusiastic learning by youth
  participants
• Featured age- and grade-appropriate information
  about alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs
• Was presented by efficacious presenters

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What do teachers have to say about Footprints for
Life?

• Another wonderful experience for the kids!
• I thought the program was very useful for the
  students and myself.
• The children enjoyed the program, did their
  assignments enthusiastically and looked forward
  to the lessons. It also provided me with info to
  be used in class. Thank you!
• Program is excellent!

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Outcomes Attributed to Footprints for Life
95 of teachers reported using lessons from
Footprints for learning opportunities in class.
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Outcomes Attributed to Footprints for Life
Teachers consistently witnessed youth using
skills from the curriculum at least once a week.
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Outcomes Attributed to Footprints for Life
Youth who received the Footprints for Life
program had a significantly larger increase in
knowledge from pre-test to post-test than youth
who did not receive the intervention.