Three lessons from the NFB for Pink Shirt Day.

1. Bully Dance - This film "...can be a starting point for discussions about peer pressure, respect, sharing and cooperation, and empathy. For older students, the conversation can move towards how groups can influence/negate a bully culture and how bystanders can unknowingly reinforce bully behaviours."

2. Door to Door - This film "...encourag{es] positive, open dialogue between two grade levels...highlighting the proactive results of conflict resolution."

3. Glasses - "This film highlights ideas related to peer pressure, inclusivity and friendship." *Warning - mention of self-harm.

Alcohol abuse doesn’t just put students at risk; it threatens the ability of schools to achieve their educational objectives. AlcoholEdu® for High School takes a public health approach to preventing alcohol abuse, incorporating evidence-based prevention methods to create a highly engaging student experience. Through this scalable online program, which has been proven to reduce negative consequences associated with underage drinking, high schools can reach all students with a consistent message and empower them to make safer and healthier decisions about alcohol.

This Course Covers
Peer Pressure
Underage Drinking Laws
Alcohol and the Brain & Body
Bystander Behaviors
Values & Goal-Setting
Challenging Common Myths
Talking to Parents

Character Playbook is an innovative digital course that uses engaging strategies to educate students about cultivating and maintaining healthy relationships during their critical middle school years. Comprised of six lessons that cover key concepts around positive character development, social-emotional learning (SEL), and building healthy relationships, Character Playbook allows students to engage with real-world scenarios, including examples of bystander intervention, resolving conflicts, effective communication, and positive relationships.

This Course Covers
Analyzing Influences
Understanding & Managing Emotions
Communicating Effectively
Resolving Conflicts
Stepping In
Making Decisions

"This guide offers two different approaches to teaching Encanto:

1. Show a few specific clips, paired with discussion questions.
2. Show the entire film, paired with a more in-depth lesson plan (below) and handout.

Feel free to use either approach, or even combine the two into one lesson (or an entire unit) based around the movie. If you only have a single class period, it might be ideal to show just a few key clips mentioned below. If you decide to help students delve deeper into the topic, you might show the entire film and have more extensive discussions over multiple days. Of course, you could also use some combination of the two, adapting the lesson to best suit your class's needs."

This lesson and active viewing guide are aligned with CASEL 5 and you can help your students:
*develop interests and a sense of purpose
*show the courage to take initiative
*resist peer pressure
*resolve conflict
*show concern for others' feelings
*reflect on community
*identify solutions

The High Way Home is an interactive website by the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse and Addiction. Students make choices about whether they would use alcohol or cannabis at a party and then plan for a way home.
The website offers a quiz at the end of the journey.

Anabolic steroids are artificial versions of a hormone that's in all of us -- testosterone. Some people take anabolic steroid pills or injections to try to build muscle faster. But these steroids also have other effects. They can cause changes in the brain and body that increase risks for illness and they may affect moods.

Cocaine is made from the leaf of the coca plant. It often comes in the form of a white powder that some people inhale through their nose. Another form of cocaine, known as crack, can be smoked. Cocaine changes the way the brain works by changing the way nerve cells communicate.

Maybe you haven't heard of inhalants, but you probably come across them pretty often. Hair spray, gasoline, spray paint -- they are all inhalants, and so are lots of other everyday products. Many inhalants have a strong smell. That's why they're called inhalants: Some people inhale the vapors on purpose. Why would anyone do this? Because the chemicals in these vapors can change the way the brain works, and those changes can make people feel very happy for a short time. But inhalants can also do harm.

You may have heard it called pot, weed, grass, ganja or skunk, but marijuana by any other name is still a drug that affects the brain. Did you know marijuana can cause some people to lose focus on events around them? It makes others more aware of their physical sensations, and it has still more effects on other people. All these different changes are caused by chemicals that affect the brain. More than 400 chemicals are in the average marijuana plant. When smoked, heat produces even more of them!

Methamphetamine is a powerful drug. It acts by changing how the brain works. It also speeds up many functions in the body. Methamphetamine has a chemical structure that is similar to another drug called amphetamine that I explore in my magazine on stimulants. Methamphetamine can cause lots of harmful things, including inability to sleep, paranoia, aggressiveness, and hallucinations.

These cue cards include strategies on how to support teens with time management, organization, screen time, peer pressure, homework, and risky behaviour.