3 min read
What Works in Schools: The Evidence on Youth Prevention Programs—Finally
After decades of school-based prevention programs, the evidence is in: some work, some don't, some make things worse. The effective programs share common features: peer delivery, skills training, and honest communication.
Programs that work: peer-led interventions, skills-based training, honest risk communication. Programs that don't: fear-based messaging, adult-delivered lectures, abstinence-only curricula. Programs that make things worse: information-only approaches that introduce the behavior to children who hadn't encountered it. **The evidence on school-based nicotine prevention is decades old—and largely ignored. The programs that dominate school curricula are the ones that are easiest to implement, not the ones that work.**
