What is Botvin LifeSkills Training?
Students today are surrounded by a variety of factors that can lead to unhealthy choices regarding smoking, substance abuse, and violence. Schools now seek a curriculum that delivers significant results in reducing these risks while developing well-rounded, healthy students. The Botvin LifeSkills Training program promotes healthy alternatives to risky behavior through activities designed to help youth:
- Resist social (peer) pressure to smoke, drink, and use drugs
- Develop greater self-esteem, self-mastery, and self-confidence
- Effectively cope with social anxiety
- Increase knowledge of the immediate and long-term consequences of substance abuse
- Enhance cognitive and behavioral competency to reduce and prevent a variety of health risk behaviors
Developed by Dr. Gilbert J. Botvin, a leading prevention expert, Botvin LifeSkills Training is backed by over 30 scientific studies and is recognized as a Model or Exemplary program by an array of government agencies including the U.S. Department of Education and the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention.
Botvin LifeSkills Training (LST) is a research-validated substance abuse prevention program proven to reduce the risks of alcohol, tobacco, drug abuse, and violence by targeting the major social and psychological factors that promote the initiation of substance use and other risky behaviors. This comprehensive and exciting program provides adolescents and young teens with the confidence and skills necessary to successfully handle challenging situations.
In Our Middle Schools
The Botvin LifeSkills Training Middle School program is a groundbreaking substance abuse and violence prevention program based on more than 35 years of rigorous scientific research. Proven to be the most effective evidence-based program used in schools today, LifeSkills Training is comprehensive, dynamic, and developmentally designed to promote positive youth development.
The program can be taught either on an intensive schedule (two to three times a week) until the program is complete, or on a more extended schedule (once a week until the program is complete). Both formats have proven to be effective. While one year of LST has been proven to achieve measurable positive effects, multi-year implementation is strongly recommended.
TOGETHER provides the middle school program to six individual school districts within Chelan and Douglas counties. We have strong partnerships with school staff, and thank them for helping get this valuable information to so many students over the past 6 years.
How Effective is this program?
The LST program has been extensively tested and proven effective at reducing tobacco, alcohol, opioid, and illicit drug use by as much as 80%. Long-term follow-up studies also show that it produces prevention effects that are durable and long-lasting. It has also been proven to reduce polydrug use by up to 66%, making it the most effective prevention program of its kind.
Please visit the following links for more information:
https://www.lifeskillstraining.com/
https://www.lifeskillstraining.com/fact-sheet/
https://lifeskillstraining.com/results-recognition/
