The summer months can be a challenging time for drug prevention.
Providing evidence-based drug prevention programs during the summer is critical since this is when young people have the most unstructured free time, which is a major risk factor for substance use.
Because summer lacks the structure of the school year, you have to get creative with how and where you deliver your programming.
Here are some concrete guidelines on how to successfully implement drug prevention programs during the summer months.u
1. Integrate with Existing Summer Infrastructure
Rather than trying to build a standalone program from scratch, bring your Prevention Plus Wellness (PPW) curriculum to where youth already are.
- Youth Groups and Summer Camps: Partner with the YMCA, YWCA, Boys & Girls Clubs, scouting organizations, and local summer camps. Offer to run a 45-minute Prevention Plus Wellness (PPW) session as a "special guest" or provide counselors and teachers with training to integrate PPW into their daily activities.
- Parks and Recreation Departments: Many municipal parks and rec departments host free or low-cost summer programs. Work with them to embed a SPORT (Substance Prevention Optimizing Resiliency Training) PPW presentation into their sports leagues or arts programs: https://preventionpluswellness.com/products/evidence-based-alcohol-drug-sport-prevention-plus-wellness
- Summer School Programs: School districts often run academic recovery or enrichment programs during the summer. These are excellent venues for structured, multi-session PPW curricula such as SPORT 3 or SPORT Health Behaviors.
2. Focus on Evidence-Based, Interactive Approaches
Summer programs need to feel different from traditional school. If it feels like just a lecture, you will lose their attention.
- Healthy Lifestyle Activities Over Scare Tactics: Move away from the outdated "Just Say No" or scare-tactic models. Focus instead on fun activities promoting healthy lifestyle behaviors including physical activity, sleep hygiene, healthy nutrition, stress management and drug use avoidance using Healthy Lifestyles Workbooks from Prevention Plus Wellness: https://preventionpluswellness.com/products/healthy-behaviors-workbooks
- Goal Setting to Learn Self-Regulation Skills: Use weekly goal plans and calendar logs found in PPW programs to teach youth to set, monitor and achieve goals to avoid substance use and increase their protective healthy behaviors. Goal setting over several weeks increases youth self-regulation skills and self-efficacy needed to successfully improve health habits. Use the free Healthy Behavior Goal Tracking Wall Chart as a class, group or team tool to motivate and support goal setting and achievement over time: https://preventionpluswellness.com/products/healthy-behavior-goal-tracking-wall-chart
- Peer-Led Initiatives: Train older high school or college students to deliver brief motivational PPW presentations to middle schoolers. Youth are much more likely to listen to someone closer to their own age whom they view as a role model.
3. Engage the Family and Community
Summer prevention shouldn't stop when the youth go home.
- Family Participation: Send kids home with their healthy behavior goal plans with instructions to ask a parent to co-sign their weekly plans to avoid substance use and increase a healthy lifestyle habit such as getting more physical activity, sleep, eating breakfast or healthier foods, and practicing relaxation strategies. This will increase communication between youth and parents about healthy behavior choices and reinforce youth health behavior change.
- Community Pop-Up Events: Host block parties, movie nights, or sports tournaments in local parks. Use these community-building events to distribute prevention and wellness information to parents and build relationships.
- Parent Workshops: Offer evening or weekend Parent Training in PPW workshops on how to motivate their youth to engage in healthy lifestyle behaviors while avoiding substance use and increase healthy behavior goal setting at home: https://preventionpluswellness.com/products/parent-training-in-prevention-plus-wellness. Provide food or childcare to boost attendance.
4. Logistics, Funding, and Partnerships
Running a summer program requires resources. Look locally to build a coalition.
- Find Local Coalitions: Partner with your local Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition (many are funded by the Drug-Free Communities program). They often have existing resources and funding. Inquire whether they own or could purchase practical and positive evidence-based PPW programs for you to provide to youth during the summer.
- Corporate Sponsorships: Local businesses are often willing to sponsor summer youth initiatives. They can provide funding, venue space, or in-kind donations like food and prizes to keep kids engaged.
- Involve Local Leaders: Bring in local athletes, musicians, or community leaders to speak at your events. Their presence can act as a draw to get youth in the door. Follow these events by providing a one-session PPW presentation to youth.
5. Foster a Supportive Environment
Mental health is deeply tied to substance use. Fostering a healthy emotional environment is a powerful preventative measure.
- Model Healthy Behaviors: Be mindful of your own habits regarding alcohol, marijuana and e-cigarette use, as youth closely observe adult coping mechanisms. Model healthy habits including regular physical activity, eating breakfast and healthy foods, getting plenty of sleep, and practicing stress control.
- Teach Stress Management: Summer can still bring social stress or anxiety about the upcoming school year. Encourage key stress-controlling healthy behaviors like exercise, sleep and nutrition, but also teach and provide time to practice relaxation strategies such as deep breathing, meditation, yoga and walking in nature.
- Praise Good Choices: Lastly, acknowledge and reward youth when they handle difficult social situations well, set and monitor healthy goals, and demonstrate practicing healthy habits.