Alcohol

Educating youth about substance use is important to help them develop skills and knowledge to make healthier choices.

Alcohol is the most common drug used by high school students. Research demonstrates that delayed onset of alcohol use is vital to healthy brain development and good mental health. It is important for youth to be informed of what is known about the harms alcohol use during adolescence can increase the risk of negative health outcomes and social harm.

In Ontario, 32% of students in grades 7 to 12 report using alcohol at least once in the past year, while about 8% of students reported binge drinking (five or more drinks on one occasion) at least once in the past month. Alcohol use by youth increases dramatically between grades 9 to 12. Among the grades, students in grade 11 and 12 are most likely to use alcohol (OSDUHS, 2021). In Windsor-Essex, 11% reported binge drinking in the past month, 9% reported riding in a vehicle when the driver had been drinking alcohol, in the past month and 12% reported their alcohol use has increased because of COVID-19 (COMPASS, 2022).

Using the Ministry of Education’s Foundations for a Healthy School framework, schools, school boards, parents, and community partners can work together to develop healthy school environments that promote and support student well-being.

Alcohol resources and supports are organized below following this framework.

Resources & Information for:

Curriculum, Teaching, & Learning

Alcohol- Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction: information on alcohol including research, regulations, and news stories from around Canada involving alcohol.
Understanding Substance Use: Educator's Guide- Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction: Designed for educators working with youth from grades 6–12 to gain knowledge, tools, and resources on substance use, stigma, cannabis vaping, alcohol, and impaired driving.
Rethink Your Drinking: this Canadian site outlines the health effects of alcohol, the safe drinking guidelines and when abstinence should be mandatory.
Youth and Alcohol- Drug Free Kids Canada: information on youth and alcohol, risks and how to get the conversation started with your child.
Youth and Alcohol - The Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines Summary from Canadian Centre of Substance abuse.
Alcohol Use- Health Canada: Information about alcohol; risks, trends, guidelines, and how to reduce risks.

Lessons and Activities

Addiction and Substance Misuse Prevention- OPHEA: different activities for grades 6 to 12 on addiction and substance misuse prevention.
Smart Wheels-Educators Guide- MADD: SmartWheels experience to educate your students about making smart choices to prevent driving while impaired with alcohol and/or drugs. Includes fives lessons plans for grades 4-6.
Impaired Driving Lesson Plan (Grades 11 & 12)- Royal Canadian Mounted Police: lesson plan includes 5 activities geared for grade 11-12.
Substance Use- Interactive Jenga Trivia Game: Students remove the blocks and answer questions about substance use. Have students play 1:1 or in teams to earn points.
Refusal skills Activity: Classroom activities which allow students to practice their refusal skills when being faced with challenging situations related to substance use.

School & Classroom Leadership

OPHEA Healthy Schools Certification- (French Version) Certification is a way to help promote the health and well-being of students, staff, and the school community. Contact your schools nurse for more information on how they can support your school

Student Engagement

RNAO’s-Youth Mental Health & Addiction Champion Toolkit - Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO) partnered with public health units, School Boards, SMH ASSIST and provincial youth based organizations to develop a peer based youth mental health initiative. The partnership resulted in the development of the toolkit to support the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based, youth-led mental health promotion and substance misuse prevention initiatives in school settings. The toolkit, includes guiding frameworks, how to build your team, youth training content, event planning, and evaluation tips.
How young adults can reduce risks related to alcohol use- Health Canada: tips on how to reduce risks when drinking.
Canada's Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines: If you choose to drink, these guidelines can help you decide when, where, why, and how.

School Campaigns and Social Media

Blueprint for Action: Preventing substance-related harms among youth through a Comprehensive School approach – This toolkit is for school communities, those working in the education system, and those who support youth, in addition to Canadian school stakeholders. The Blueprint model supports school community members in planning and carrying out a wide range of strategies for preventing substance-related harms among youth. These strategies include upstream prevention, harm reduction, stigma reduction, and equity-oriented approaches.
SmartWheels- MADD Canada: Mobile classroom interactive presentation for grades 7 & 8 students about the risks of experimenting with alcohol and drugs. It also includes information about how they can avoid becoming passengers in vehicles with impaired drivers. Teaching resources are available for download prior to presentation for classroom use. Currently only available in English.
Project Red Ribbon- MADD Canada: campaign committing to driving sober. Campaign runs yearly from November 1st to January 3rd.
Final Play- MADD Canada: School presentation from MADD Canada bringing awareness to impaired driving (alcohol and drug) and risk reduction messaging for students in grades 7 through 12. Teaching resources available for download prior to presentation for classroom use. Available in French.
Health Canada has created posters with alcohol messaging that can be downloaded and used in your school:
- Drinking is up to you- Tips if you do not want to drink and how to reduce risks when drinking. Also available in French.
- Drinking tonight? - Tips for reducing risks when drinking. Also available in French.
- Hey are you ok?- What to do in an alcohol-related emergency. Also available in French.

Social & Physical Environments

Visit the Ontario Ministry of Transportation - Impaired Driving website to learn more about the laws. Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol is dangerous and illegal. Know what counts as impaired driving – and the penalties you could face for it – before you get behind the wheel.

School Board Policies

School boards can set policy that influence the social & environmental norms students’ experience. Please refer to your specific school board and/or school’s policies and code of conduct on alcohol and substance use for further information. Individual schools should speak to their school boards about whether they can develop individual school policies.

RNAO’s-Youth Mental Health & Addiction Champion Toolkit - Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO) partnered with public health units, School Boards, SMH ASSIST and provincial youth based organizations to develop a peer based youth mental health initiative. The partnership resulted in the development of the toolkit to support the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based, youth-led mental health promotion and substance misuse prevention initiatives in school settings. The toolkit, includes guiding frameworks, how to build your team, youth training content, event planning, and evaluation tips.
How young adults can reduce risks related to alcohol use- Health Canada: tips on how to reduce risks when drinking.
Canada's Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines: If you choose to drink, these guidelines can help you decide when, where, why, and how.

School Campaigns and Social Media

Blueprint for Action: Preventing substance-related harms among youth through a Comprehensive School approach – This toolkit is for school communities, those working in the education system, and those who support youth, in addition to Canadian school stakeholders. The Blueprint model supports school community members in planning and carrying out a wide range of strategies for preventing substance-related harms among youth. These strategies include upstream prevention, harm reduction, stigma reduction, and equity-oriented approaches.
SmartWheels- MADD Canada: Mobile classroom interactive presentation for grades 7 & 8 students about the risks of experimenting with alcohol and drugs. It also includes information about how they can avoid becoming passengers in vehicles with impaired drivers. Teaching resources are available for download prior to presentation for classroom use. Currently only available in English.
Project Red Ribbon- MADD Canada: campaign committing to driving sober. Campaign runs yearly from November 1st to January 3rd.
Final Play- MADD Canada: School presentation from MADD Canada bringing awareness to impaired driving (alcohol and drug) and risk reduction messaging for students in grades 7 through 12. Teaching resources available for download prior to presentation for classroom use. Available in French.
Health Canada has created posters with alcohol messaging that can be downloaded and used in your school:
- Drinking is up to you- Tips if you do not want to drink and how to reduce risks when drinking. Also available in French.
- Drinking tonight? - Tips for reducing risks when drinking. Also available in French.
- Hey are you ok?- What to do in an alcohol-related emergency. Also available in French.

Resources & Information for:

Curriculum, Teaching, & Learning

Lessons and Activities

School & Classroom Leadership

Student Engagement

School Campaigns and Social Media

Social & Physical Environments

School Board Policies

Home, School, & Community Partnerships

Help for Parents and Caregivers

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School Campaigns and Social Media

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