PASS It On
Peers, parties And Senior Students

What is PASS It On?

• A program for senior high school students to develop a health promotion campaign for safer partying among their peers
• Program involves one day training workshop for students and support in developing their campaign
• Parent component provides parents with resources to identify risks associated with teenage partying and ways to approach the issue with their teens

During the PASS It On Workshop…

• Youth focus on their own experiences with partying and risks
• Youth discuss partying risks and safety strategies beyond impaired driving
• Youth develop safety strategies and messages that match theses
• Youth develop health promotion campaign to communicate their ideas to their peers

Why target senior students?

• Youth, aged 16 - 19, are actively using alcohol and other drugs, with binge-drinking being of particular concern
• The 2001 Ontario Student Drug Use Survey from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) found that during the four weeks prior to the survey
• Almost half (47.6%) of all students (grades 7 to OAC) reported drinking 1-2 times or more - of these, 16.8% reported drinking one or more drinks each week.
• 27.5% of students reported binge drinking (about 252,000 students) and 26.6% reported becoming drunk.
• Heavy drinking increased significantly with grade
• Drunkenness climbs to a high of 48% among 12th graders.
• Drunkenness peaks in grade 11 (40.7%).
• The study found that in the year prior to the survey
• Almost 30% of students reported using cannabis at least once.
• Rate of use increased with grade, peaking in grade 11 (45.7%) and then remaining above 40% in grades 12 and OAC.

Why messages about parties?

• Youth in this age group have more independence and more chances to party in various settings; alcohol and/or drugs are commonly part of the scene.
• Programs for this age group are often specifically focused on impaired driving or safer graduation and not on the range of risks associated with typical party situations.

Why does PAD use a "safer partying" approach in this project?

• Senior students accept alcohol and other drug use among themselves/their peers as a fact.
• Students can identify the risks associated with their use of alcohol and other drugs and are interested in reducing the harm associated with their use.
• There are many strategies that lower the potential problems associated with teenage drinking and drug use and which youth believe are more realistic than complete abstinence.
• Older teenagers are more comfortable in "not preaching" to their same age peers about drinking and drug use and choose harm reduction messages as reasonable mechanisms to promote health and safety.

How does PASS It On reflect "Best Practices"?

Program model applies principles of effective prevention programs for youth.

• Recognizes youth reality of substance use.
• Builds on youth's view of the benefits and risks associated with substance use
• Takes into account the social and personal context of substance use within different youth party cultures.
• Involves youth in the design and implementation of the program.

The complete PASS It On Package will include:

• Workshop Guide for training day for senior students
• For the Record, "the reality video of an after-grad party"
• Facilitation guide to the video
• Parent resources on safer partying

PAD gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Ontario Trillium Foundation, an agency of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Recreation, which receives annually $100 million in government funding generated through Ontario's charity casino initiative.