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LifeSkills Training

Researched based, highly effective, and named by the US Department of Education as one of only nine exemplary prevention programs, LifeSkills Training is available to educators across Tennessee through a grant provided by the Tennessee Department of Education. The curriculum, developed by Dr. Gilbert J. Botvin a researcher at Cornell University, and leading expert in the field of drug abuse prevention, targets middle school students in grades 6-8.

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Centers for Disease Control Center for Substance Abuse Prevention
Recommended
by the
Centers for
Disease Control
 More information about the LifeSkills Training Curriculum here Recommended
by the
Center for
Substance Abuse
Prevention

Using an interactive approach, LifeSkills Training:


  • provides students with the necessary skills to resist peer pressures to smoke, drink and use drugs

  • increases knowledge of the immediate consequences of substance use

  • helps develop greater self-esteem, self-mastery, and self-confidence

  • enables young people to effectively cope with social anxiety, respond to stressful situations in positive ways, make healthy decisions and solve problems

  • assists students in identifying techniques used by advertisers to manipulate consumer behavior

  • encourages students to examine the influence of the media on their perception of violence and substance abuse

  • reduces abuse by up to 87%*
    *Research concerning the effectiveness of the program shows LifeSkills Training reducing the prevalence of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drug use by as much as 87% when implemented with fidelity.

LifeSkills Training Curriculum

Over one thousand classroom teachers, counselors and school administrators in Tennessee have been trained to deliver the LifeSkills Training curriculum to sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. The LifeSkills Training program is taught consecutively over three years:

  • Level 1: taught in 6th grade consists of 15 lessons and 3 optional violence prevention lessons

  • Level 2: taught in 7th grade consists of 10 lessons and 2 optional violence prevention lessons

  • Level 3: taught in 8th grade consists of 5 lessons and 2 optional violence prevention sessions