Crystal Meth and Major Life Areas

CALM OUTCOMES

P1 Analyze the dimensions of health and their interrelatedness, the impact of the determinants of health, and the dynamic nature of balance in life

P2 Evaluate choices and combinations of choices that can create barriers to achieving and maintaining health, and identify actions to improve health

P4 Develop approaches/tactics for creative problem solving and decision-making

P6 Determine practices that contribute to optimal physical well-being

P9 Demonstrate and apply effective communication, conflict resolution and team-building skills

P14 Evaluate resources and support systems for each dimension of health and well-being for self and others

OTHER OBJECTIVES

Students will be able to:

• Review the health effects of crystal methamphetamine use
• Recognize the effects of addiction on young adults and their families
• Evaluate the impact of addiction on the major areas of a person’s life
• Identify AADAC, community resources and other supports to access treatment or receive constructive support services
• Identify risk and protective factors as life events or experiences

LESSON PLAN

• Opening 10 minutes
• Community supports: Who are they? 40 minutes
• Closure 10 minutes

Major Life Areas

Background information for teachers

Drug abuse is of great concern in Canada, and we hear a lot of media reports that lead to the single conclusion that “drugs are bad.” On the other hand, it is apparent that many drugs, antibiotics or blood pressure medications for example, are helpful. Calling a drug “bad” is not very useful for treating those who are abusing a substance. The real question is, what effect is using this drug having on your life?

This is one of the first questions that AADAC counsellors ask treatment clients. (Similarly, gambling clients are asked, “What effect is gambling having on your life?”) To answer the question, counsellors guide clients through a systematic examination of major life areas: family, friends/recreation, school/job, physical health, emotional/spiritual health, finances and the law. (This is only one way to divide life areas; other classification systems exist.)

Exploring major life areas is also an effective way to approach prevention. In this lesson, students will examine these life areas in terms of deciding whether to use substances. Students will review the possible consequences of use to major life areas, and the effect of crystal meth use on the community. Students will also be able to identify resources and support systems that can be used to deal with the issue of drug use. A handout entitled Major Life Areas has been attached to this lesson. If you want more information or an introductory lesson about major life areas, a useful supplement is Lesson 1 of the AADAC resource Be Your Own HERO: Health, Education, Resiliency, Opportunity.

The concept of risk and protective factors is helpful in understanding the choices that young people make with regard to involvement with addictive activities like gambling and addictive substances like alcohol, tobacco, crystal meth and other drugs. Research has found that there are certain protective factors that, when present in a young person’s life, decrease the chances of harmful involvement. Protective factors include developing good social skills, participating in positive social activities, feeling connected to school, having friends who positively influence decision-making and having parents who monitor their children’s behaviour (Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission [AADAC], 2003b). Likewise, there are risk factors that increase chances of harmful involvement. Examples of risk factors are becoming involved with alcohol, tobacco, other drugs and gambling (ATODG) at an early age; having friends who use or encourage use; belonging to a family with a history of substance abuse; experiencing conflict within the family; and having a poor connection to school (AADAC, 2003b). (Risk and protective factors also increase or decrease the likelihood of other problems, such as dropping out of school or coming into conflict with the law.).

Opening (10 minutes)

In the larger group, ask students to brainstorm a list of things most important to them. Have students think about significant areas of their lives that would be affected by ATODG. Students may suggest things like friends, money, family and sports. Introduce the concept of major life areas by recording on the board the following areas that are common in everyone’s life and that can be affected by ATODG. Spend a few minutes defining and giving examples of the ways that ATODG can affect the seven major life areas listed below.

• Family
• Friends/recreation
• School/job
• Physical health
• Emotional/spiritual health
• Finances
• The law

Community supports: Who are they? (40 minutes)

Divide the class into seven groups. Assign each group one of the major life areas outlined above. Have each student think of a social role that has an effect on his or her group’s major life area. If students have difficulty coming up with a role, here are some examples for each life area:

• Family – mother, father, sibling, foster parent, extended family member
• Friends/Recreation – girl/boyfriend, co-worker, teammate, coach, instructor (music, art, dance)
• School/Job – employer, co-worker, teacher, guidance counsellor, principal
• Physical Health - doctor, nurse, nutritionist, recreation leader, trainer
• Emotional/Spiritual Health - priest, pastor, counsellor, elder, confidant
• Financial - banker, financial advisor, parent, career counsellor
• Legal - judge, police officer, lawyer, probation officer

One person can play more than one role in a particular major life area. For example, a friend might be a co-worker and teammate (recreation life area). One role may also be important in more than one life area. For example, the mother or sibling role may be important in both the family and emotional life areas. This helps to illustrate the interconnectedness of major life areas and important people in our lives.

Once all students have identified a role, describe the following:

The class represents one community (feel free to give the community a name). Each student will role-play the person he or she chose to represent. For instance, students in the physical health group might play a doctor, nurse, physiotherapist and fitness trainer.

This community is concerned about the drug crystal meth and would like to put in place some effective strategies to prevent use of the drug by youth, and to identify community supports for young people (protective factors, which help youth to avoid using, or help them to recover from substance abuse).

Distribute copies of the handout on page 7. Give each student 10 minutes to complete the worksheet, representing the person he or she is role-playing. At the end of this time, tell the class that the community will be holding a meeting to discuss concerns about crystal meth use and resources for dealing with those concerns. Ask the groups to spend the next 15 minutes preparing for the meeting.

In this 15-minute preparation, each student will bring the perspective of the role he or she has assumed while completing the worksheet. For example, in the legal group, a judge and police officer might see the community’s problem in the same way, but have different ideas on how to deal with it. The members of each group should come to agreement on what they want to bring to the meeting in terms of concerns about the issue and resources they have to offer or might require to help the community deal with the problem of crystal meth use. Each group should choose one person to represent them at the meeting. The last three questions on the worksheet can guide the discussion. The representative will want to record a group answer to each of these questions.

Next, have the representatives from each group move to the front of the class. Each representative is still in the role he or she chose (mother, judge, etc.), so students may choose to do some dramatic improvisation. The representatives from each group should present on:

• the key concerns related to that group’s major life area
• the resources or skills that the major life area can offer
• how other life areas could be helpful in dealing with the concerns of this life area

Once the group of representatives has finished presenting, lead the students in debriefing the activity. The following questions are guidelines:

1. Now that the members of the community have heard each major life area group, what more have you learned about the issue?
2. Are there resources in the community that you did not know about before?
3. Did some groups see the problem in the same way as other groups or did they have similar skills to solve the problem?
4. Could one major life area group alone address the issue successfully?
5. Who could you team up with to deal with concerns?
6. Were there certain people that could have or did appear in more than one of the major life areas?
7. What are some of the resources in our real-life community? Try to come up with some for each of the major life areas.

Closure (10 minutes)

This lesson is designed to help students understand issues related to crystal meth use within the context of their own experience. This closure activity enables students to reflect on their own communities and the material presented. You can have students spend this time journal writing or assign it as a homework activity. Ask students to create their own web of support or circle of community. With the student’s name in the centre, have them draw circles surrounding themselves. Seven circles should surround their name, to represent the different major life areas. In each circle have them list a person or resource that fits within that major life area. Distribute a copy of the handout "Resources on the Web".