4th Grade Red Ribbon Week Lesson

Please read my previous post about the purpose of our Red Ribbon Week lessons before reading this post.

The PowerPoint presentation used for this lesson is posted to my website.  Please read below to learn more about the lesson in order to fully understand the PowerPoint presentation.

The lesson began with a game of "True, False, or It Depends".  Statements were displayed and students talked with their small group of 4-5 students about their thoughts on the statement.  After a minute or two, we had a class discussion about the statement.  We discussed the legality of each statement, the health risks associated with the statement, and answered a few questions students had.  We also watched a few videos that demonstrated the risks associated with various substances.  (You can view the videos by clicking on the Husky WILF dog in the top left hand corner of each slide of the PowerPoint.  If the video is a BrainPop video, please see your child's Husky pad for login information.)

After we discussed each statement, I posed the question "What is peer pressure?"  Students discussed this question in their groups,  In order to illustrate the concept of peer pressure, the students watched a clip from an episode of Full House in which Stephanie is offered a cigarette while in the 6th grade.  Students were asked to take note of the tactics the girls used to try to get Stephanie to smoke as well as the steps Stephanie took to get herself out of the situation.  (You can view the video by clicking on the yellow "Caution:  Peer Pressure" sign in the top left hand corner of the PowerPoint.)

We discussed the reasons why peer pressure works.  We discussed the fact that peer pressure does not only pertain to drugs, alcohol, and tobacco.  Negative peer pressure occurs any time a peer tries to get you to do something that you do not want to do or that you know is not right such as calling someone a name, watching a movie you know you are not supposed to watch, playing a video game you know you are not supposed to play, etc.  We discussed effective strategies for dealing with peer pressure and students were given an opportunity to think about how they would deal with peer pressure in various situation.

Our lesson ended by discussing three of The 7 Habits of Happy Kids by Sean Covey.  Students were encouraged to discuss today's lesson with their parents and ask them any questions they may have on the topic.  Students were also reminded that I am available to discuss any concerns they  have on the topic and were reminded how to make an appointment to meet with me.

Thank you for your support of the school counseling program.  I know this is a sensitive topic, but it is one we must teach our students about so they have the knowledge and the skills to make safe, healthy choices.