Click on the links below to download and print copies of posters and teaching guides featured in the Heads Up series.

NEW! Stand Up Against Bullying
This health, life skills, and language arts poster/teaching guide aims to prevent student bullying as well as lower associated risks, such as substance abuse. The lesson, activities, and work sheets will help students build the skills they need to identify potentially harmful situations around them and determine steps they can take to safely intervene if they see a peer in trouble.
(First published 2017)

Respect Others. Respect Yourself.
This ELA and Life Skills poster/teaching guide helps students build healthy communication skills. The techniques covered in the tiered lesson, activities, and work sheets will serve students in all relationships, and in particular could help prevent emotional or physical abuse. Additionally, having strong communication skills will help students to navigate difficult situations, such as peer pressure or conflicts. (First published 2016)

Drugs + Your Body: It Isn’t Pretty
This poster/teaching guide includes an eye-catching poster, lesson, and dynamic worksheets designed to provide factual details and critical-thinking questions on the wide-ranging effects drugs have on the developing brain and body. These effects include harmful physical and psychological consequences that affect not only individuals, but also families, friends, and communities. (First published 2012)

• Order a Free Print Copy of the Poster/Teaching Guide

Marijuana: Download the Facts 
The teaching guide to the poster Marijuana: Download the Facts (PDF). This poster and teaching guide are designed for teachers to display and use in the classroom year-round to educate students about the risks of smoking marijuana. The teaching guide includes lesson plans and worksheets that communicate the facts of marijuana use, as well as guide students in analyzing media messages so that they can make educated decisions about drugs. (First published 2011)

• Order a Free Print Copy of the Poster in English or Spanish

Drug Facts: Shatter the Myths
The teaching guide to the poster Drug Facts: Shatter the Myths (PDF). This poster and teaching guide are designed for teachers to display and use in the classroom year-round to remind students of the importance of getting the facts when it comes to drugs and drug abuse. The teaching guide includes a lesson plan and worksheet to help students identify drug facts vs. myths, eye-opening questions and answers from NIDA’s National Drug IQ Challenge, and take-home activities in both English and Spanish. (First published 2010)

Facts on Drugs: Teen Guide to Making Smart Decisions
The teaching guide to the poster LIFE’S COMPLICATED ENOUGH: Make Smart Decisions About Drugs (PDF). This important teaching guide is a skill-building program to help students understand the importance of informed decision making. The teaching guide includes turnkey lessons and worksheets that support the idea that when young people know the facts, they have the tools to make smart choices. Find lessons and critical-thinking activities that bring students facts about the science behind teen brain development and decision making, as well as the health risks associated with drug abuse. (First published 2008)

The Teen Brain: Under Construction
The teen brain is still developing, so it is particularly vulnerable to the effects of drugs. Drugs interfere with the teen brain’s natural development, affecting not only the brain, but the entire body. Check out the poster and article to learn more about how drugs affect the brain and the body. The accompanying teaching guide includes lessons, discussion questions, and student activities about drug addiction and how drug abuse affects decision making. (First published 2004)

You Can’t Sniff Away Your Sorrows: Drug Abuse May Cause Addiction, Memory Loss, Heart Failure, Organ Damage, or Death.
Check out the Heads Up Poster Contest Grand Prize-winning artwork and poster concept by student Ania Lisa Etienne. Then use the lesson strategy, discussion questions, and student worksheet activities to help students learn more about how drugs can affect your brain and your health. (First published 2003)

Drugs and the Body—It Isn’t Pretty
Check out the poster and explore student worksheet activities to find out how drugs of abuse affect the brain and body. This poster/teaching guide includes posters in English and Spanish, student worksheet activities, answer key, and web resources. (First published 2002)

Quitting drugs is challenging because addiction changes the brain. Watch the video below to find out more.

Watch these videos to find out more about the health and life effects of drug use and addiction.

Videos are organized into two chronological sections on this page:

• Narrative Videos
• Animated Infographics

Narrative Videos

Animated Infographics

More Videos from the National Institute on Drug Abuse >>

While student smoking rates have declined in recent years, e-cigarette use has risen—an alarming trend, because most vaping devices contain the highly addictive drug nicotine. Share the article “How Nicotine Affects the Teen Brain” to help students understand how nicotine is not only highly addictive but also can cause lasting effects on their brain. Then have students complete the “Vaping Health Risks” presentation activity to guide them to conduct deeper research into specific vaping risks and help spread the word to their peers.

The lesson and activities in this program will help students develop awareness and skills to help them respond to situations that involve bullying.

Click below or scroll down for all the
turnkey materials needed for this program.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have joined Scholastic to develop this grades 6—12 health, life skills, and language arts poster/teaching guide that aims to prevent bullying as well as lower associated risks, such as substance abuse.

While studies support the importance of preventing aggressive behavior among middle and high school students, they’ve also shown that children and youths who are bullied may suffer long-term negative consequences—including depression, anxiety, and an increased risk for alcohol and drug use. But it’s not only those who are bullied who may experience these consequences. Those who do the bullying—as well as bystanders—can also be affected.

Bullying creates an unsafe environment for students. However, students can help prevent bullying by standing up and speaking out. The lesson, activities, and work sheets in this program will help students build skills they need to identify potentially harmful situations around them and to determine steps they can take to safely intervene if they see a peer in trouble. By learning how to take action, they can make a difference not only in someone else’s life—but they can help create a safer environment for themselves.

Download This Poster/Teaching Guide (PDF)

LESSON & ACTIVITIES

Time Required: Two 30-minute class periods plus additional time for optional reinforcement/wrap-up activity.

Materials:

• Classroom Poster (flyer-size version)
• Classroom Poster (full-size version)
• Work Sheet 1: “Bullying: Recognizing a Problem”
• Work Sheet 2: “Bullying: Who’s Involved?”

PART 1 | Poster Discussion

Share with students the flyer-size poster or full-size poster and use it to engage students in a conversation about bullying. The questions and possible answers below 
may help to guide your discussion. You can revisit these after completing the activities:

• What is bullying? (Bullying is a form of violence among two or more children/youths that can include physical attacks or emotional or social abuse, comprising verbal or written actions such as name-calling, teasing, threats, spreading rumors, or excluding someone from a group. Bullying is unwanted aggressive behavior that involves an observed or perceived imbalance of power and occurs repeatedly over time. Bullying may inflict harm or distress on the targeted youth.)
• Who is impacted when a child or youth is bullied? How are they affected? (Those affected by bullying include the child or youth who is bullied, who may feel isolated and sad; the child or youth who bullies others, who may or may not feel bad about his or her behavior; and the bystanders, who may be scared that they will also become victims.)
• Why is it important to stand up and speak up if you witness a peer who is in trouble? (The student may be afraid to ask for help. You could be the person who safely helps him or her get out of a harmful situation. You could help make your environment safer. You may help protect him or her from long-term consequences, including depression, anxiety, and addiction.)
• Why do you think many students do not take action when they see another student being bullied? (Students may feel sad or scared. They may feel relieved that they are not being bullied. Bystanding students might not want to get involved in such harmful situations.)

PART 2 | Activity – Bullying: Recognizing a Problem

This activity presents students with scenarios that may or may not involve bullying, and helps them to pay attention to details or clues that may indicate a peer is in trouble.

Step 1: As a class, quickly brainstorm a few situations that involve bullying. Ask students if they think bullying is always obvious. Could bullying sometimes look like friendly pranks? Refer to the step on the poster front “Take Notice” and discuss why it is important to be able to recognize bullying. (The first step in making a difference is recognizing that a peer is in trouble.)

Step 2: Hand out the work sheet “Bullying: Recognizing a Problem” (PDF) and have students complete Part 1 of the work sheet in pairs.

Step 3: When everyone is finished, summarize the key points that students discussed about how you can tell if a peer is being bullied or is struggling in other ways, such as with drugs and alcohol. (There are clues about whether a behavior is bullying, such as: if a group of students is isolating another student, or if messages are mean-spirited, or if one student is repeatedly the target of attacks, etc. It may be a clue that the behavior is not bullying if, for example, it is a one-time joke and the student who is at the center is good friends with the other students.)

Step 4: Have students complete Part 2 of the work sheet individually and then discuss their answers. Together, make a list of safe actions that students can take when they see a peer in trouble (for example: alert a teacher; reach out to the student in trouble by inviting him or her to join a lunch table or an activity after school; avoid sharing harmful messages, etc.). Highlight the importance of reaching out to a trusted adult. Make a list of the adults at your school with whom students can talk, such as a guidance counselor. Find more advice for educators and students about bullying prevention strategies that have been shown to be effective at stopbullying.gov/what-you-can-do/index.html.

PART 3 | Activity—Bullying: Who’s Involved?

Step 1: During another class period, distribute the work sheet “Bullying: Who’s Involved?” (PDF) Have students read the descriptions of bullying participants, and then identify the participants in the illustration. (Answers are listed on the work sheet.)

Step 2: Next, study the scenario in the illustration. Ask for volunteers to act out the individual roles in the scenario. One by one, discuss each of the roles. Ask the players to explain how they would feel in that situation. What are some specific impacts the situation might have in the short term and in the long term?

Answers will vary, but some possible discussion points include:

Step 3: Ask for a volunteer to read aloud the “Also Involved” section on drugs and alcohol. Discuss the “Think About It” questions as a class.

PART 4 | Activity—Reinforcement/Wrap-Up

As a class, discuss how bullying creates an unsafe environment in your school. According to the U.S. Department of Education, bullying can violate a student’s civil rights—or the legal right to freedom and equality. Discuss the anti-bullying policies in place at your school. Brainstorm ways you could help make your school a safer place. Some ideas might include signing a specific pledge that says you won’t bully other students or creating posters to inform students about the potential health risks of bullying. Then create the necessary materials to put your plan into action.

¹Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Youth risk behavior surveillance—United States MMWR: (2016) “Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance—United States, 2015.”

²Musu-Gillette, et al., National Center for Education Statistics: (2017) “Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2016.”

³Espelage, et al. (2010). Bullying in North American Schools, 2nd Edition.

⁴Radliff, et al. Addiction Behavior: (2012) “Illuminating the relationship between bullying and substance use among middle and high school youth.”

⁵CDC, National Health Education Standards, cdc.gov/healthyschools/sher/standards/index.htm.

⁶CCSS, corestandards.org

Click on the links below for printable work sheets, interactive web activities, and quizzes in the Heads Up series.

Materials are listed in chronological order with the most recent first.

NEW! Prescription Opioid Use and Abuse
Students analyze data regarding opioid prescriptions and overdose deaths from these medications. Use with Lesson Plan: Prescription Pain Medications: What You Need to Know. (First published 2016)

Download and print a copy of this Work Sheet (PDF)

NEW! Practicing Healthy Communication
In this basic introduction to using peer communication to resolve conflicts or address unhealthy situations, students will think critically while analyzing role-play scenarios and responding to writing prompts. Use with Poster/Teaching Guide: Respect Others. Respect Yourself. (First published 2016)

Download and print a copy of this Work Sheet (PDF)

NEW! Using Healthy Communication to Resolve Conflicts
More advanced than the communication worksheet above, this worksheet covers when to get help in dating relationships as well as how to respond to various negative situations, including dating violence and drugs. Students will analyze conflict scenarios and respond to critical-thinking questions. Use with Poster/Teaching Guide: Respect Others. Respect Yourself. (First published 2016)

Download and print a copy of this Work Sheet (PDF)

What Should You Say?
Students apply what they have learned about the science of peer pressure and decision making to respond to a real-life situation they might face. Use with Lesson Plan: The Science of Decision Making and Peer Pressure. (First published 2015)

Download and print a copy of this Work Sheet (PDF)

Drugs: What’s the “Worst”?
Students synthesize facts about different drug dangers and use scientific evidence to craft an argument. Use with Lesson Plan: Questions About Drugs—Answers From Scientists. (First published 2015)

Download and print a copy of this Work Sheet (PDF)

E-Cigarettes: Behind the Marketing
Students analyze how e-cigarette marketing strategies are designed and how they might influence teens. Additional critical-thinking questions help students evaluate the information contained in ads. Use with Lesson Plan: E-Cigarettes: What You Need to Know. (First published 2015)

Download and print a copy of this Work Sheet (PDF)

Using Drugs: Who Becomes Addicted?
Students analyze a chart of research-based risk factors and protective factors for drug addiction. Critical-thinking questions help students apply what they have learned to real life. Use with Lesson Plan: Recovery From Drug Addiction. (First published 2015)

Download and print a copy of this Work Sheet (PDF)

Marijuana: Perception of Harm vs. Use
Students analyze statistical information regarding attitudes toward marijuana compared to actual use. Additional critical-thinking questions help students synthesize what they have learned. Use with Lesson Plan: Marijuana: Breaking Down the Buzz. (First published 2014)

Download and print a copy of this Work Sheet (PDF)

The Power of Pausing
Students answer critical-thinking questions about possible consequences of real-life scenarios and how pausing could influence the outcomes. Use with Lesson Plan: Pushing Pause. (First published 2014)

Download and print a copy of this Work Sheet (PDF)

Short-Term Memory Quiz
This quick quiz will assess short-term memory, which can be affected by marijuana and other drugs. Students will be given 30 seconds to look at a list of 15 words. They will be scored on how many words they can recall.

Every year since 2007, scientists at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) in Washington, D.C., dedicate a day to answering student questions about drugs. In this annual online chat—Drugs and Alcohol Chat Day*—teens across the country can ask the questions they most want answered, and the scientists answer them. No judgment. Just the facts.

To read the actual questions and answers—more than 2,500—visit teens.drugabuse.gov/chatday2015. Here are a few Q&As inspired by Chat Day to give you some important facts now.

Q: Some people say marijuana is dangerous and others say it’s not. What’s the truth?

A: Scientific research has shown that marijuana can be dangerous for teens because their brains are still developing. Regular marijuana use may impact teens’ ability to learn and even lower their IQs. It can also impair driving ability, especially when combined with alcohol. In addition, when marijuana is put into food items and eaten, its mind-altering chemical (called THC) is digested more slowly, causing some people to eat too much of it. This can provoke psychotic reactions that land people in the emergency room.

Q: Why do people use tobacco when they know it’s so bad for them?

A: It is bad for them! More than 480,000 people die every year from smoking-related illnesses. But the nicotine in cigarettes is highly addictive. Most smokers get addicted before age 18. This is not surprising since young people are especially sensitive to nicotine’s addictive effects. Some people mistakenly think that using a hookah (water pipe) will let them use tobacco but avoid the dangers of it. Not true. Hookah smoke contains the same chemicals as cigarette smoke and is also linked to heart disease and lung cancer. In fact, a typical hookah session can equal as many as 100 cigarettes.

Q: Can coffee kill you?

A: Caffeine is generally safe at levels found in beverages such as coffee, soda, or energy drinks—though drinking too much can make you feel sick. However, there have been overdoses from consuming caffeine powder. Just a teaspoon of it is equal to 25 cups of coffee—enough to kill you! Too much caffeine powder can cause fast and erratic heartbeat, seizures, vomiting, diarrhea, disorientation, and even death.

Q: How is marijuana addictive?

A: Marijuana is addictive for some people, with the risk increasing for those who start using it as a teen. It affects certain receptors in the brain, called cannabinoid receptors, which influence many functions, including the brain’s reward system. Over time, this can make it difficult for some people to stop using marijuana even when it’s having negative effects on their lives—this means they have become addicted. Also, because marijuana withdrawal can cause irritability and restlessness and ‘looks’ different from withdrawal symptoms from drugs such as heroin, some people might not realize they are experiencing withdrawal.

Q: How can I get a friend to stop taking drugs?

A: Talking about drug use can be uncomfortable, so we suggest you ask a trusted teacher or coach to help you figure out how best to help your friend. Without being judgmental, you can let your friend know that you care and are concerned, and that he or she can talk to a trusted adult or a medical professional in confidence. Also, the anonymous national call line at 1-800-273-TALK can connect your friend with a nearby professional. There is also a helpful fact sheet at drugabuse.gov/helpforteens.

Q: What are Molly and Spice and why are they in the news?

A: Both Molly and Spice have led to hospitalizations and death, which makes headlines. Molly is another name for a drug called MDMA (also known as Ecstasy or X). MDMA affects areas of your brain that help you control your body temperature. It can cause the body to overheat to such an extreme that serious heart and kidney problems can result. MDMA is sometimes passed out at concerts and parties, but more and more, what is being presented as MDMA actually contains additional dangerous chemicals or other drugs (and sometimes has no MDMA at all). Spice, sometimes called K2 or “fake marijuana,” is a drug that is made by spraying plant material with dangerous chemicals. These chemicals can cause extreme reactions like hallucinations, paranoia, and heart problems.

From the Nation’s Leading Expert on Drugs

→ “Any potentially addictive drug can be the ‘worst’ drug. We are all different, and some of us might be more sensitive to one drug versus another. You often won’t know until it’s too late what your reaction will be. No one ever chooses to be addicted.” —Dr. Nora D. Volkow, Director, NIDA

More Info: For additional facts about drugs, visit scholastic.com/headsup and teens.drugabuse.gov.

*New Name. Same Facts! Drug Facts Chat Day is now Drugs and Alcohol Chat Day. Learn about it and National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week at teens.drugabuse.gov/national-drug-facts-week.

As a teacher, you know your students have questions about drugs. While the Internet and their peers may provide answers (accurate—or not), it is crucial that teens learn the facts about drugs from a reliable scientific source. Drug and Alcohol Chat Day, an annual live online chat between students and scientists at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), helps serve this need. This article and lesson on some of Chat Day’s most popular Q&As can help students find unbiased, scientific answers to their questions about drugs and health.

MATERIALS:

Lesson:
Download a PDF version of this lesson page and accompanying work sheet.

Student Article/Informational Text:
Students will gain a scientific understanding of the answers to common teen questions about drugs and health.

> HTML version
> PDF version
> Digital interactive version
> Leveled version (PDF) – grades 4-5 reading level
> Leveled digital interactive version

Student Work Sheet:
The work sheet gives students an opportunity to synthesize facts about different drug dangers. (See the “Additional Tools” document below for guidelines and answers on how to evaluate student responses.)

> PDF version
> HTML version

Additional Tools (PDF):
Grade-tiered resources to support teaching the lesson and student article:

• Expanded Answer Key for Critical-Thinking Questions and Work Sheet
• Tiered Adaptations of Critical-Thinking Questions
• Academic and Domain-Specific Vocabulary Lists
• Additional Writing Prompts
• Expanded Paired-Text Reading Suggestions
• Expanded Standards Charts for Grades 6-12

STANDARDS:

CRITICAL-THINKING QUESTIONS:

1) Why can drugs be described as having hidden dangers? Cite examples from the article. (People who make drugs often mix in other drugs and chemicals, so users don’t actually know what they are really taking.)

2) How are drugs marketed through their names, and why might that be dangerous? Cite examples from the article. (Nicknames like Ecstasy and Molly [for MDMA] make the drugs sound fun and also distract from the fact that they are mind-altering chemicals that pose real dangers.)

3) Why is it important that information about drugs comes from a scientific and trustworthy source? (There are many inaccurate sources of information about drugs—trusting these sources can lead someone to make deadly choices. Scientific sources like NIDA provide current and accurate information. Paying attention to this information can save your life.)

→ Refer to the “Additional Tools” (PDF) for expanded answers.

WRITING PROMPTS:

Instruct students to use evidence from the article in their responses to the writing prompts.

• Grades 6-8: How would you convince a friend or loved one to stop using tobacco? In your response, synthesize information from two relevant Q&As in the text.
• Grades 9-10: What are the risks of marijuana for teens? Synthesize evidence from two relevant Q&As in the text and infer what real-life consequences might result.
• Grades 11-12: What questions would you ask drug scientists if you had the opportunity? Research answers on teens.drugabuse.gov/drug-facts and include them in your response.

PAIRED READING:

• Grades 6-12: “Real Teens Ask: How Can I Help?” teens.drugabuse.gov/blog/post/real-teens-ask-how-can-i-help
• Grades 6-12:“Marijuana: Breaking Down the Buzz,” headsup.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-marijuana-breaking-down-the-buzz
• Grades 6-12:“Have You Seen Molly?” teens.drugabuse.gov/blog/post/have-you-seen-molly-even-if-you-think-so-you-may-have-been-fooled

ADDITIONAL SOURCES:

• Website: National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week®, January 25-31, 2016, teens.drugabuse.gov/national-drug-and-alcohol-facts-week
• Interactive Website: “Drugs + Your Body: It Isn’t Pretty,” scholastic.com/drugs-and-your-body
• Videos: headsup.scholastic.com/students/video-collection

RESOURCES AND SUPPORT:

• Teaching resources and drug info: headsup.scholastic.com/teachers and teens.drugabuse.gov
• “Drug Facts”: teens.drugabuse.gov/drug-facts
• To locate a treatment center: 1-800-622-HELP or findtreatment.samhsa.gov