One Choice Prevention Message

The Institute for Behavior and Health is reframing the goal of substance use prevention as One Choice: no use of any alcohol, nicotine, marijuana, or other drugs by youth under age 21 for reasons of health.

The One Choice message is based on three data-driven facts:

1. The developing brain is uniquely vulnerable to substance use.

2. For teens, all substance use is related.

3. More than ever, young people are making one choice.

When it comes to youth drug prevention, parents make a difference. Teens who believe that their parents will respond negatively to their drug use are less likely to use alcohol, nicotine, marijuana and other drugs. While other factors, like peers who use drugs, can influence a teen’s decisions, parent expectations of drug use and enforcement of drug-free rules significantly reduce teen drug use. Talk to your children about drugs, making sure that they know that no drug use is acceptable.

Here are a few of the great resources in the One Choice Prevention Toolkit that you can utilize when having these important conversations with your children and teens.

• Tips and Tools for Parents and Caregivers

• One Choice Parent Education Information

• Parenting for Prevention 101 – one-page handouts

  • Childhood (Grades K-3)

  • Middle Childhood (Grades 4-5)

  • Pre-Adolescence (Grades 6-8)

  • Adolescence (Grades 9-11)

  • Early Adulthood (Grades 12+)

Visit the One Choice Prevention website for even more resources and tools for parents, educators and youth.