This Outline will provide a summary of the curriculum to help you decide if you want to download the entire course.  Use the download link below to get it.

GEAR UP

ALCOHOL AND DRUG PREVENTION

Knowledge   Beliefs   Skills

Life in Christ

Michael Heady

 A curriculum for teens and young adults in evangelical Christian churches for substance abuse prevention

Copyright © 2020 by Michael Heady

Permission is granted to Christian churches and ministries to make copies in part and in whole for conducting classes using this curriculum.  Other uses are forbidden without express permission from the author.

INTRODUCTION

The young shepherd David, son of Jesse, brashly volunteered to fight Israel’s challenger: Goliath the massive champion for the Philistine army.  Israel’s king Saul dismissed the teen: “You can’t fight him; you’re just a boy.”  David explained how he knew he could fight and win – he had fought off lions and bears when they attacked his flock.  He assured Saul: “The Lord has rescued me from the claws of lions and bears, and he will keep me safe from the hands of this Philistine” (1 Samuel 17:37 CEV).  David was capable and willing to fight because he was prepared.

Teenagers in your church and community will make wise choices about using drugs and alcohol when they are prepared.  Preparation must be more than learning a popular phrase such as “just say no” or feeling threatened with jail.  Effective preparation includes gaining accurate knowledge of substances and addiction, adopting a personal belief system, developing life skills, and embracing life in Christ.

These are the goals for the course:

  1. Gain knowledge of the effects of substance use.
  2. Gain knowledge of the process of addiction.
  3. Understand the kind of life God wants a person to experience and how substance use relates.
  4. Make a personal choice to have an abundant life without substance use.
  5. Begin to develop skills for resisting substance use.
  6. Develop a program and present it to the church or a selected class/group of the church or a community group.

CHAPTER 1

EFFECTS

Begin the session with a discussion of how you and the participants have experienced or witnessed the effects of substance abuse (SA).

If you can, share with the group one of your own experiences of the effects of SA and why you are leading this course.

Ask the youth in the group to share how they have experienced or seen the effects of SA – make this completely voluntary – and why they are interested in taking this course.

Briefly explain the plan and goals for the course (Introduction).  You can refer to the story of David’s conflict with Goliath from 1 Samuel 17.

Introduce the first learning activity: gain knowledge of the effects of specific substances.  Form small groups who will each learn about one substance and distribute the appropriate data for them to prepare a presentation to the large group that will be clear, thorough, and impactful.

Information is provided for alcohol, cocaine, MDMA (ecstasy), heroin, marijuana, methamphetamine, prescription opioids, and tobacco and e-cigarettes.  There is also data about combinations of various substances.  Most of the information comes from the National Institute on Drug Abuse; National Institutes of Health; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  You can access this website:

https://teens.drugabuse.gov/drug-facts, where you can find this information plus much more including facts about other substances.

 

ALCOHOL

No level of drinking is safe or legal for anyone under age 21, but unfortunately many teens drink—and they often drink multiple drinks, which is very dangerous.

How does alcohol affect the teenage brain?

How does alcohol affect your body?

What are the negative consequences of underage drinking?

What is alcohol poisoning (or alcohol overdose) and how can I help someone who may be suffering from it?

What is an alcohol blackout?

Is underage drinking a serious health problem?

Why do teens drink alcohol?

COCAINE

Cocaine is an addictive stimulant drug made from the leaves of the coca plant native to South America. Cocaine comes in two forms:

What happens to your brain when you use cocaine?

What happens to your body when you use cocaine?

Can you overdose or die if you use cocaine?

What are the other risks of using cocaine?

Can you get addicted to cocaine?

ECSTASY

MDMA, short for 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, is most commonly known as Ecstasy or Molly. It is a man-made drug that produces energizing effects similar to the stimulants called amphetamines as well as psychedelic effects, similar to the hallucinogens mescaline and LSD.

What happens to your brain when you use MDMA (Ecstasy or Molly)?

What happens to your body when you use MDMA (Ecstasy or Molly)?

Can you overdose or die if you use MDMA use (Ecstasy or Molly)?

Is MDMA (Ecstasy or Molly) addictive?

HEROIN

Heroin is a highly addictive drug made from morphine, a psychoactive (mind-altering) substance that is extracted from the resin of the seed pod of  the opium poppy plant. Heroin’s color and look depend on how it is made and what else it may be mixed with. It can be white or brown powder or a black, sticky substance called “black tar heroin.”

What happens to your brain when you use heroin?

What happens to your body when you use heroin?

Can you overdose or die if you use heroin?

What are the other risks of using heroin?

Is heroin addictive?

MARIJUANA

Marijuana is the dried leaves and flowers of the Cannabis sativa or Cannabis indica plant. Stronger forms of the drug include high potency strains – known as sinsemilla (sin-seh-me-yah), hashish (hash for short), and extracts including hash oil, shatter, wax, and budder.

What happens to your brain when you use marijuana?

What happens to your body when you use marijuana?

Can you die if you use marijuana?

What are the other risks associated with marijuana use?

Is marijuana addictive?

What about medical marijuana?

METHAMPHETAMINE

Methamphetamine—known as “meth”—is a very addictive stimulant drug. Stimulants are a class of drugs that can boost mood, increase feelings of well-being, increase energy, and make you more alert. But they also have dangerous effects like raising heart rate and blood pressure, and use can lead to addiction.

What happens to your brain when you use methamphetamine?

What happens to your body when you use methamphetamine?

Can you overdose or die if you use methamphetamine?

Is methamphetamine addictive?

PRESCRIPTION OPIOIDS

Prescription opioids are medications that are chemically similar to endorphins – opioids that our body makes naturally to relieve pain – and also similar to the illegal drug heroin.  In nature, opioids are found in the seed pod of the opium poppy plant. Opioid medications can be natural (made from the plant), semi-synthetic (modified in a lab from the plant), and fully synthetic (completely made by people).

What happens to your brain when you use prescription opioids?

What happens to your body when you use prescription opioids?

Can you overdose or die if you use prescription opioids?

What about prescription opioids and heroin use?

Are prescription opioids addictive?

TOBACCO AND E-CIGARETTES

Tobacco is a leafy plant grown around the world, including in parts of the United States. There are many chemicals found in tobacco leaves or created by burning them (as in cigarettes), but nicotine is the ingredient that can lead to addiction. Other chemicals produced by smoking, such as tar, carbon monoxide, acetaldehyde, and nitrosamines, also can cause serious harm to the body. For example, tar causes lung cancer and other serious diseases that affect breathing, and carbon monoxide can cause heart problems.

What happens in the brain when you use tobacco and nicotine?

What happens to your body when you use tobacco and nicotine?

COMBINING SUBSTANCES

Alcohol and energy drinks

Alcohol and ADHD medication

Alcohol and pain killers

Alcohol and marijuana

Alcohol and cocaine

Alcohol and heroin

Alcohol and Ecstasy

Alcohol and LSD/acid

Alcohol and mushrooms

Alcohol and amphetamines

Alcohol and antibiotics

Alcohol and antidepressants

Caffeine in combination with MDMA

 CHAPTER 2

EFFECTS, continued

Briefly share with the group some statistics about the numbers of people who use/abuse substances, using the following information.

Transition to a short discussion time by asking, “Why? Why do so many Americans use and abuse drugs?”  Brainstorm a list of reasons, factors, and influences that seem to cause a person to use.

Transition to group presentations with a statement that substances deliver more than the user is wanting.  Ask groups to make the presentations they have prepared.  Ask all participants to pay attention and see if there is something they have not known about the drugs.

CHAPTER 3

TAKEOVER

Chapter 3 explores the process that ensues as a person uses, abuses, and becomes addicted to one or more substances.

Read or ask one of the group participants to read (you may want to arrange this before the session) “Nobody Told Me.”

Explain that substance addiction is an adaptive process.  The user’s brain and body adapt to the pleasurable feelings that the drug produces.  So the user wants more, then needs more.  Addiction simply takes over.

Counselors and doctors use screening tools to help determine a person’s level of problems related to substance use.  The screenings can assist in identifying where a user is in the addictive process and what actions need to be taken, if any, for treatment.

Consider watching this video, “Teen Brain Development,” available on Youtube.  You may choose to show it to the group – https://youtu.be/EpfnDijz2d8

Present the following STAGES OF ADDICTION.

Experimentation

Regular use

Risky use, abuse

Addiction, dependence

CHAPTER 4

ALTERNATIVE

This chapter provides teaching on how a faith relationship with Jesus Christ provides an alternative to choosing to use drugs and alcohol for a person’s well-being.  It is basically a Bible study with lecture and discussion and personal application.

Begin with asking the group, “How does God relate to substance abuse?”

The first step for us is to go to the Bible for direction.  Ask, “Are you aware of anything said in the Bible about substance abuse?”  Allow participants to respond.

Say, “There are a few warnings about alcohol – wine and strong drink (Proverbs 20:1) and getting drunk (Ephesians 5:18).  We should pay attention to those warnings.”

There is an interesting word used in ancient Greek manuscripts of the Old Testament and New Testament that may speak about drugs.

One of the lifestyle instructions in the Bible is, “So think clearly and control yourselves so you will be able to pray” (1Peter 4:7 New Century Bible).  When you’re high or drunk, you cannot think very clearly and you can easily lose control of yourself.

So, the Bible does contain some warnings that apply to the abuse of drugs.  But, it is more important to understand being a Christian means following Jesus (Mark 8:34), not just following the Bible.  Following Jesus is much more personal than adhering to laws and principles that are stated in the Bible.  Jesus relates to us within the inner person – within the heart, the spirit, the mind, the soul.

The inside part of you is your internal guidance system.

We do go to the Bible to learn how to have a relationship with Jesus and what we experience in him.  We’re going to study 4 realities that we can have in that relationship which are keys to having a lifestyle without drugs and alcohol.

REALITY 1: JESUS’ GOAL FOR US

REALITY 2: JESUS’ INVITATION TO US

REALITY 3: JESUS’ IMPACT ON US

REALITY 4: JESUS’ PROPOSAL TO US

DEBRIEFING

Ask, “How can believing these realities of Jesus provide an alternative lifestyle to using alcohol and drugs?”

Close the session with an emphasis that faith in Jesus is not just a method to say no to drugs and alcohol.  It is a way of life that affects everything.  In that way of life there is an alternative to substance abuse.

CHAPTER 5

SKILLS

This chapter will help students identify the skills they can employ when they are faced with decisions about drug and alcohol use.  They will be encouraged to make intentional plans for how they can develop and activate these skills.

“So, let’s identify three types of skills that are available for each of us, personalize those skills, and intentionally prepare to use them.”

SKILL #1 Spiritual: your life in Christ

SKILL #2 Relational: your support from others

SKILL # 3 Personal: your competence to choose

Tell the group, “You must proactively contend with the garbage in life by using the skills you have learned and been given.”

CHAPTER 6

DIFFERENCE-MAKING

This chapter leads the group to plan a presentation of what they have learned through the Gear Up course for your church, a class, or even in your community.

Begin the session explaining that by sharing what you know with others, the information becomes more familiar to you and embeds in your mind and heart.  Plus, of course, you help someone else learn, understand, and grow.

Explain that the goal is for the group to plan a presentation of the Gear Up material for church/class/community.

Brainstorm ways to do the presentation – what form it will be.

Be creative.  Have fun.  Be thorough and truthful.

After the presentation, meet to debrief – how did it go? Maybe fine tune the presentation and present it to another audience.

Get the group members to discuss where they are in regards to alcohol/drugs and life with Jesus.  What have they learned?  What have they come to really believe?  What do they need?  How can they help each other and others?