Project ALERT | Adolescent Learning Experiences in Resistance Training

Preventing Substance Use in Middle School

Project ALERT is a classroom program that teaches seventh and eighth graders how to resist drugs and alcohol. It’s free, easy to use, and scientifically proven.

Project ALERT | Adolescent Learning Experiences in Resistance Training
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Adolescents are bombarded with messages that glamorize drugs and alcohol and disguise the real-world consequences that can change a teen's life forever. That's why every student needs the tools to make healthy decisions about substance use.

Project ALERT is a free, easy to use substance use prevention program that can be delivered during any course during school hours or in programs outside of school time, and can be delivered by any adult. The curriculum is series of lessons that uses the power of practice and repetition to give students the self-efficacy, skills, and resources to resist peer pressure and misleading messaging to use substances. 

The goals of Project ALERT are explicit:
  1. To prevent adolescents from beginning to use substances
  2. To prevent those who have already experimented from becoming regular users
  3. To prevent or curb risk factors for substance use
Project ALERT is an evidence-based curriculum, meaning statistics and long-term survey research define Project ALERT’s success. Unlike most other programs, Project ALERT has been and continues to be thoroughly tested in multi-year, multi-community studies. This scientific validation means that administrators and teachers know what the program can deliver, who it can impact, and the effort involved in making its results last. Project ALERT is proven to motivate students against drug use, provide skills and strategies to resist drugs, and establish new non-use attitudes and beliefs. 

Project ALERT is designed to be delivered over two years. In the first year, typically 7th grade, students receive the initial 11 Lessons, or Core Curriculum. In the second year students receive three Booster Lessons that are critical for maintaining early prevention gains. Each lesson takes about a class period but can be adapted to fit into shorter instructional blocks like Advisory and Homeroom. Both the Core Curriculum and Booster Lessons offer a variety of activities and instructional materials (e.g., Project ALERT videos and posters). 
Project ALERT

60%

Decrease in current marijuana use
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40%

Experimental to regular smoking conversion rate reduction
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24%

Lower alcohol misuse score
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20%

Reduction of highest-risk early drinkers
Read more about Project ALERT Research

Why Schools Choose Project ALERT

Project ALERT
Project ALERT is free
All materials, trainings, and coaching resources are available for free.
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Universal or Primary-level intervention
The curriculum can prevent alcohol and drug use initiation, as well as decrease current use.
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Easy to adopt
Project ALERT can be implemented by any trained educational staff
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Free of conflict
Project ALERT has never received funding from special interest groups like the tobacco or alcohol industry.
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Backed by evidence
Project ALERT has been in use for 30 years and has been studied in numerous districts across the US.

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