According to Dan Olweus in his book, Bullying at School, those who bully also engage in other antisocial behaviors, including alcohol and drug abuse. Other studies have shown the same results, such as the 2001 study highlighted in the article, Bullying Behaviors among US Youth, from the Journal of the American Medical Association. The Olweus Bullying Prevention Program has proven to be effective in reducing bullying in schools. Is there an effective resource that addresses and reduces underage alcohol use in our schools and communities?
Project Northland*
Project Northland is Hazelden's evidence-based alcohol-use prevention program. The Project Northland curricula are based on the most rigorous alcohol-use prevention trial ever funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and were developed in a region of the country that led the nation in alcohol-related teen traffic fatalities. Researchers designed Project Northland to:
- delay the age when youth begin drinking
- reduce alcohol use among young people who have tried drinking
- limit problems related to underage drinking
Students who participated in Project Northland showed 30 percent lower weekly drinking and 20 percent lower monthly drinking. They engaged in 27 percent lower cigarette use and 27 percent lower alcohol use by the end of eighth grade.
Project Northland is included in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP). Project Northland has also been recognized in the following ways:
- "A" Rating - Making the Grade by Drug Strategies
- Exemplary Programs - Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice and Safe and Drug-Free Schools, U.S. Department of Education
- Meets Principle of Effectiveness #3 for Safe and Drug-Free Schools
Learn more about Project Northland.
* Project Northland is not part of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, but is another evidence-based resource available from Hazelden Publishing.
