Alternative Action and Awareness*

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Anderson, S., & Gurnee, A. (march 2016). Home-Grown Citizens. Educational Leadership, 72-75.

This article explained a Charter School in Portland Oregon that was using place-based learning throughout their entire curriculum. Place-based learning in this context included: local speakers, local histories, field trips, community service work that all worked together to create a sense of not only physical but social aspects of place. Alternative Action and Awareness believes that working with local mentors who have harnessed their personal potential and community service will help youth in squamish. 

Benson, E. (2012, April). How Can Understanding Adolescent Behavior From A Neuro/Psychological Perspective Help Design Effective Risk-Reducing Programs For Youth? A needs assessment of youth activities in Squamish. Quest University Canada Keystone.

This undergraduate thesis by Quest alumni, Erica Benson, provided a pointed needs assessment of Squamish youth's use of recreational time, as well as, desired opportunities in the future. With a sample size of under 150 high-school student's in Squamish it provided significant data on the present use of substances by Squamish youth. Unlike CTC (see below), Benson's needs assessment highlighted that their are several tiers to substance use ongoing in Squamish, opposed to broad survey results presented in CTC. 

Cherniss, C., Extein, M., Goleman, D., & Weissberg, R. P. (2006). Emotional intelligence: what does the research really indicate?. Educational Psychologist, 4 1( 4), 239­245. 

Emotional Intelligence is a concept that has been attributed to Social Emotional Learning (SEL) practices. It has been defined as an individuals ability to be aware of and regulate their emotions in the context of others emotions as well. It includes aspects of awareness, for example, of social context and has been connected to improved academic performance and less substance use. 

Communities that Care Squamish. (2014, June). The future of Squamish youth: Building protection and reducing risk. In Communities that care. Retrieved June 9, 2014.

Communities That Care (CTC) is a large scale survey done approximately every five years (or when funding is available). In 2014, they surveyed 1171 youth about their perceptions and  frequency of use for substances, as well as, many other metrics of healthy teen development including, pro-social peers and parental perceptions of substances. This data collection sparked the authors interest in providing alternative forms of programming that helped youth who were significantly at risk from being categorized with youth who had more protective factors. 

Egan, K. (2001). Why education is so difficult and contentious. Teachers College Record, 103(6), 923-941.

Egan makes an argument that the fundamental approaches to education are conflicting and combating on another in their definitions. In this article he provides a long argument for each of the three purposes for education which are more commonly known as: socialization, knowledge and personal potential. It was in discussions with my colleagues at the Squamish Youth and Resource Centre about the pursuit of goals/dreams/passions that the epiphany came to me. I truly believe that by helping individuals find what their desired personal potential is and giving them the tools to set those goals and support in achieving them, we can create a trickle down effect. It is in the "personal potential model" that we work on the individual and then from there, we socialization and necessary knowledge can occur. 

Ennett, S. T., Tobler, N. S., Ringwalt, C. L., & Flewelling, R. L. (1994). How effective is drug abuse resistance education? A meta analysis of Project DARE outcome evaluations. American Journal of Public Health, 8 4( 9), 1394­1401.
 

This assessment looked at the efficacy of D.A.R.E programs on decreasing substance abuse in youth through a meta-analysis. These findings found that while DARE was effective in the short-term due to: the unique channel of information (police officers) and the semi-interactive components. However, they reported the long-term impacts on adolescent substance use/abuse behaviours was not effective. They recommended more interactive models of substance-use prevention, hence: Alternative Action and Awareness. 

Greenberg, Mark T., et al. "Enhancing school-based prevention and youth development through coordinated social, emotional, and academic learning."American psychologist 58.6-7 (2003): 466.

This paper puts forth the results that SEL learning modules must be taught in a structured setting such as a classroom. It is with this study in mind that 4A wishes to move from the classroom where the most at-risk youth are disengaged, into alternative learning environments where we can create engagement. 

Ruiz-Aranda, Desireé, et al. "Short-and midterm effects of emotional intelligence training on adolescent mental health." Journal of Adolescent Health 51.5 (2012): 462-467.

This paper posits that emotional intelligence increases via SEL modules are shown to have long-lasting impact on adolescents substance use/abuse behaviours. It is with this promising aspect in mind, the "holly-grail" of substance abuse prevention (6month post program behaviour changes) that we decided to build our climbing model off of SEL components. 

Steinberg, L. (2008). A social neuroscience perspective on adolescent risk-taking. Developmental review, 28(1), 78­106. 

From a neurological perspective it was interesting to read the influence that the prefrontal cortex development has on adolescent risk-taking behaviour. Risk-taking behaviour is often used interchangeably with the personality trait of sensation seeking. It was in Steinberg's review, that they posited all adolescents go through increases of sensation seeking behavior throughout adolescence. 

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