Teaching Drug Abuse Prevention through "Go Ask Alice"

My Students: Teenagers today are experiencing a lot of things that I never had to deal with growing up. They are facing teenage pregnancy, drug abuse, violence, suicide, and poverty. The...

My Project: I used it last year and the kids absolutely gobbled it up. Many of them "stole" my books at the end of the unit. I don't mind when they "steal" my books because that means th... more»

My Students: Teenagers today are experiencing a lot of things that I never had to deal with growing up. They are facing teenage pregnancy, drug abuse, violence, suicide, and poverty. They should have the opportunity to learn how to overcome these obstacles and lead a healthy life.

I teach in a high poverty school. We are a "school in need of academic improvement" within New York state. My kids are an awesome bunch of kids that are facing extraordinary obstacles. Because of this, they tend to learn in non-traditional ways. Therefore, they need some not so traditional books.

In the past few years, I have come across many students who have problems with drug addiction and depression. I found this wonderful book, "Go Ask Alice," that I know the kids would benefit from. I want to use it to teach drug abuse prevention and promote suicide awareness.

My Project: I used it last year and the kids absolutely gobbled it up. Many of them "stole" my books at the end of the unit. I don't mind when they "steal" my books because that means that they love the book as much as I do and they want to re-read it.

The problem is that we do not have enough money in the budget to order more books. I feel that the more the students know about the dangers of drug use, the more likely they will "just say no to drugs." If I can save just one life, it is worth it...but of course, my goal is to save them all, or at least give them the tools to save themselves. hide»

The kids use this book on the ELA Regents as one of their choice books to write about because the information they learned is so strong in their mind. It is a rare event that a book is so powerful that it sticks with a teenager. My hope is that they will take this new found knowledge with them beyond high school. I hope they use it to inform all of their future decisions. You can help me to give more students this invaluable knowledge! hide»