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“Don’t preach, don’t recite, don’t give speeches. Look them in the eye, listen, understand, and believe that success can be achieved in places others have given up on before they even started.”
We believe that when young people are figuring out who they are, they need opportunities to ask questions that are bothering them about the values and norms of the society in which they live. Alternative is a mobile training workshop that serves as a magnet for the questions and issues that concern teens who encounter drugs in their daily environment, in the places they go to relax, and at school.
By conducting an open and productive dialogue, we encourage young people to be proactive in addressing social problems, and to seek out alternatives. Transferring personal responsibility to the teens presents them with alternative methods for coping with the crises, boredom, or alienation that lead to drug use. This creates a climate that encourages social support and social norms that reject drug use. Participants leave the workshop with a clear message about confronting the issue of drug use through a deeper understanding of teens’ personal responsibility for their own body, the impact young people have on those around them, and internalizing the importance of active social intervention.
The Alternative staff is comprised of individuals with vast experience in the fields of drug abuse prevention and training. Through the use of innovative methods, the project challenges participants, turning the workshop encounter into a very powerful experience.
Goals of the Alternative Project
- Develop personal and social skills while addressing the drug use issue
- Create a social atmosphere that increases teens’ capacity to take responsibility for their own personal future and choices, while assessing their impact on their environment
- Expand the circles of influence on young people by empowering socialization agents
Method of Operation
The fun experiential activity involves three major areas that enable change:
Cognitive issues: Providing information about the different types and effects of various drugs, examining different opinions about drug use, and formulating relevant values
Emotional issues: The workshop allows participants to identify with one another and express feelings and emotions
Behavioral issues: Developing social skills such as coping with peer pressure, examining teens’ capacity to decline drug usage, etc.
Alternative’s Two Models of Action
School-based activities: Offered together with the substance abuse prevention coordinator at the school, this model includes programs for middle school, high school, youth at risk, and the educational staff. The program is adapted to the students’ age and their level of exposure to drug usage.
Citywide activities: Offered together with the city’s drug prevention staff, based on well-defined needs. Activities take place during afternoon hours and include one-time encounters as part of the city’s drug prevention programming, and a series of meetings adapted for specific population sectors (e.g., new immigrants, youth movements, municipal youth council, etc.). Activities also include training sessions for youth coordinators and teen counselors.
* Both models include experiential workshops in the Alternative mobile informational unit.
Programs
* Activities are available also in Arabic and Russian.
* The programs are supervised and approved by the Israeli Ministry of Education and the Israel Anti-Drug Authority.
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Personal Story
As a new immigrant from the U.S. and a first-year student at Tel Aviv University, I was looking for a meaningful job, and I found Zionism 2000—or they found me…
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