Life skills model of drug education

A most promising new approach is the life skills development model of prevention. Whilst, there is a conceptual similarity between the life skills model and the affective model, the former emphasizes balanced development of personal and social coping skills, which can be divided into five dimensions critically important for adolescent learning, thinking, feeling, decision making, communication and action. The model encompasses the improvement of positive peer influence, peer role models and peer teaching and includes teaching specific values, such as respect, compassion, responsibility, honesty and self-discipline. This programme attempts to link community groups and school groups (teachers, tutors, counselors, parents, board members), because of the belief that prevention and health education is the collective responsibility of the whole school and local community. The life skills approach is a challenging model, appropriate for both drug prevention and health promotion. The well-known "Skills for Adolescents" programme, originally developed in the USA '24), has now been culturally adapted and introduced in many countries, including inter alia, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, France, The Netherlands, Belgium and Sweden.

24) See Note. 11