HHD Violence Prevention, Health Promotion Curricula Recognized by Federal Government

Two projects of EDC's Health and Human Development Programs—one that focuses on youth violence prevention and the other on overall health promotion in schools—were recognized by the federal government as two of 33 "promising" programs based on their quality, efficacy, and educational significance. HHD's Campus Mental Health product receives press in Business Week magazine. Read the article.

The projects are "Aggressors, Victims, and Bystanders: Thinking and Acting to Prevent Violence," designed for use in grades 6-9, and "Teenage Health Teaching Modules," a comprehensive health curriculum for grades 6-12.

An expert panel, convened by the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Program of the U.S. Department of Education, used rigorous evaluation criteria to identify "what works" in combating youth substance use and violence.

Aggressors, Victims, and Bystanders (AVB) is a 12-session curriculum that aims to prevent or reduce violence by encouraging young people to examine their roles as either aggressors, victims, or bystanders, and help them develop problem-solving skills and new ways of thinking about how to respond to conflict.

"This is one of the first curriculums that took seriously the role of the bystander as a potentially pivotal person in preventing violent confrontations," said Ron Slaby, Ph.D., a senior scientist at Health and Human Development Programs (HHD), who, together with his colleagues at EDC, created and evaluated the curriculum. "We know from school shootings that, in about 75 percent of cases, bystanders were well aware of the plan and did nothing sufficient to try to stop it."

The backbone of the curriculum is a four-step "think first" model of conflict resolution. The model helps students pause and keep cool, evaluate a situation before jumping to conclusions, define their problems and goals in ways that don't lead to fights, and resolve the problem.

Although the lessons are usually taught by teachers, in Palm Beach County, Florida, officials have brought police officers into schools to teach the curriculum. The program has been considered such a success in sixth grade classes in the region that Rep. Mark Foley, the Congressman for the Palm Beach area, has recently appropriated $1.3 million to expand the curriculum to all Palm Beach County seventh-graders and to broaden its reach by preparing adults throughout schools and communities to become "problem-solving" bystanders.

Deputy Sheriff Gervasio Torres, Jr., of the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, who has taught the program, was especially impressed after witnessing a sixth-grade student, whom he classified as an "active aggressor," break up an impending hall fight by reasoning with his peers. According to Torres, the young boy told him: "I guess I was paying attention in class."

Teenage Health Teaching Modules (THTM), of which AVB is a part, is a comprehensive health program for grades 6-12. The hallmark of THTM is its student-centered, interactive approach to health instruction. THTM helps students uncover, examine, and evaluate misconceptions and beliefs about health, and reconcile them with accurate information, healthy behaviors, and their goals for the future. THTM provides a framework for all critical adolescent health issues, including alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use, and violence prevention.

THTM is comprised of 23 modules, each of which highlights: risk assessment, self-assessment, communication, decision making, goal setting, health advocacy, and healthy self-management.

"THTM was the first comprehensive health program for the middle/senior high school level that helped young people develop the knowledge, attitudes, and skills to act in ways to protect their immediate and long-term health," said project director Christine Blaber.

Along with the designation from the U.S. Department of Education, THTM was also selected as a promising program by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. THTM, which is in use in more than 6,000 U.S. middle and high schools, is published by EDC. For more information on THTM or AVB, contact Erica Macheca at emacheca@edc.org or visit the website www.edc.org/thtm.

To learn more about all 33 of the government-recognized "promising" programs and nine "exemplary" ones, visit www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/SDFS.