10 Core Essentials For Youth Substance Use Prevention

Research-Based Strategies for youth substance use prevention and the foundational principles for Natural High

1 in 4 families are touched by addiction, and over 20 million Americans (aged 12 and older) have a substance abuse problem. Substance abuse is one of the leading causes of death for youth.

For those whose lives are not taken but who become addicts, it can be a lifetime of trauma and wasted potential.

This is a massive issue for all parents who want to raise their kids to make good choices and for all educators who want to play their part as positive role models and help steer kids in the right direction.

And yet, there is no public prevention system designed to educate kids around drug and alcohol abuse and develop protective measures.

Think about this. It’s probable that your child has no formal and meaningful dialogue and education about how to avoid the epidemic of drug and alcohol abuse. This is one of the most important life lessons that we can give kids… and we fail miserably as a country.

That’s why Natural High exists.

We’ve made it easy to have meaningful conversations with kids around drug and alcohol use. We provide powerful videos from influencers that kids admire and discussion questions that are easy conversation starters. We’re here for you in this important fight.

Through our newsletter series, The Natural High Essentials, we share weekly articles with the most relevant research on drug and alcohol use prevention, and we provide effective strategies to engage kids. If you want to get on our mailing list, subscribe here. 

Natural High is all about giving parents and educators the best content and tools to engage kids so they can lead healthy and thriving lives. Our focus is on harnessing the power of Storytellers who kids look up to as a way to convey the importance of saying ‘no’ to drugs and alcohol and ‘yes’ to something much better – a natural high. 

We’ve compiled what we consider the 10 Core Essentials educators and parents/caregivers need to feel prepared to have ongoing conversations about substance use with kids. These articles include case studies, research on neuroscience, adolescent development, and prevention, and the methods we put to use in Natural High’s prevention program.

This list isn’t the end all be all on youth substance use prevention, thats hours of research. And that’s what we’re here for. To sift through the research and create tools. 

This list is the “best of” Natural High’s content compiled for you in these 10 quick links:

1. Peter Benson and Spark Theory
2. Dr. Harvey Milkman and The Iceland Study 
3. Aspirational Lifestyle Case Study: South Africa
4. Making Healthy Choices Cool – The Social Norms Theory
5. Understanding Peer Pressure
6. Delayed First Time Use
7. 4 Risk Factors (Series) For Substance Abuse
8. The Science Behind The Power of Storytelling   
9. The Importance Of Exposing Them To Positive Peer Influences 
10. Natural High’s guide, How to Help Kids Find Their Natural High, that combines the above-mentioned principles in a simple downloadable PDF. You may get our free PDF resource here.

We share all of these concepts, and more, in our weekly newsletter series, The Natural High Essentials. If you want to hear from us, subscribe here.