A nationally renowned center at the University of Colorado at Boulder will implement the nation's best drug prevention program in middle schools in 10 southeastern states as the result of a $12.1 million grant.
The Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence will both establish and monitor the program called Life Skills Training at participating schools. The program has been proven to reduce middle schoolers' use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs by 50 to 70 percent.
"It's the best drug prevention program we have in the country," said Distinguished Professor Delbert Elliott, director of the CU-Boulder center. "We see it as a huge opportunity to benefit young people in these southeastern states."
Participating states include Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland and Delaware as well as the District of Columbia.
Funding for the three-year program comes from Philip Morris USA, an Altria company based in Richmond, Va., and is aimed at reducing young people's use of tobacco but the program also does much more, Elliott said.
"We expect the program to benefit about 200,000 students over the three-year period, dramatically improving their ability to resist the use of tobacco, alcohol and other drugs," Elliott said. "The students also will learn skills that will help them to avoid violence, build relationships and solve problems in many other areas of their lives."
Smoking rates among youth in states selected for the program are higher than the national average. Nationally, 7 percent of eighth graders reported smoking one or more cigarettes in the previous month and nearly a quarter of teenagers were smokers by the time they graduated from high school, according to 2007 National Institutes of Health statistics.
Results from more than a dozen studies evaluating Life Skills Training show that the program:
-- Cuts tobacco, alcohol and marijuana use by 50 to 70 percent
-- Reduces pack-a-day smoking by 25 percent
-- Decreases use of inhalants, narcotics and hallucinogens
-- Cuts multiple drug use by up to 66 percent
The three-year program is offered to either sixth- or seventh-grade students with booster sessions in the two subsequent years. It provides students with self-management skills such as creative problem-solving and anger management; social skills enabling them to build relationships, communicate clearly and avoid violence; and skills to help them resist pressures to use tobacco, alcohol and other drugs.
Studies show that the program's effects are long-lasting and work with a diverse range of adolescents when taught by teachers, Elliott said. The interactive training includes discussion, coaching and practice, and is delivered in 45-minute sessions held 15 times the first year, 10 sessions the second year and five sessions the third year. Optional violence prevention lessons are included in the curriculum.
Life Skills Training is one of only 11 model Blueprints for Violence Prevention programs endorsed by the CU-Boulder center. Each Blueprints program is scientifically proven to be effective and was selected from more than 800 programs the center evaluated.
The Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence was selected for the project because of its expertise in ensuring that Life Skills Training is properly implemented and sustained over time. The center will monitor how well the schools in the 10 states and the District of Columbia implement the program and plans to publish the results of its research.
The Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, part of CU-Boulder's Institute of Behavioral Science, was founded in 1992 to provide informed assistance to groups committed to understanding and preventing violence, particularly adolescent violence. Elliott, an internationally renowned expert in the study and prevention of youth violence, is director of the National Youth Survey, the longest study of criminal behavior and drug use among adolescents and young adults in the United States.
Middle schools located in participating states that are interested in offering Life Skills Training at no cost for the initial year, and with some cost-sharing in the second and third years, can apply by visiting .
For more information on the CU-Boulder Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence visit or call 303-492-1032.