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A new approach to substance abuse prevention will make parents think twice when they hear music, whistling, and cheering coming from the family computer. Rather than the warfare, fighting and car racing typical of many computer games, it could be the sound of homework.
 New Glarus parents discovered as much when their middle school children began coming home with an interest in pursuing game-based health exercises. One mother, after giving in to her son's appeals to use the computer for his homework, rushed into the room at the first sounds of game playing. But her son was actually practicing "Dodging Risks," a game in which students identify and strike down bad risks as quickly as possible.
In the online, interactive course-called Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs II-students proceed through lessons in multi-media formats including visuals, sound, moving text and video. They engage in a variety of online exercises - such as "Dodging Risks" - to reinforce the lesson material.
Monica Schober, the AODA coordinator at New Glarus Middle School, decided to enroll her seventh grade health students in a 15-period pilot program.
Schober found the unique learning experiences with a game-based approach seemed to provide a valuable way for students to internalize their understanding of the dangers of alcohol and other drugs. She felt the choice-based learning possible with computer gaming was particularly fitting for the subject matter, since substance abuse avoidance ultimately depends on individual decisions.
"Kids need to make their own choices, but when they make their choices they need to have good information and accurate information, and I think that's what happened," Schober said.
A student confirmed this sentiment in discussing the course: "I think it helped me be more independent," she said. "I could work on my own, instead of a teacher telling me 'OK children, now do number 2.'"
Despite the individualized nature of the course, the instructors found that they had sufficient opportunity to play an active role in both the teaching methods and content of the course itself. Schober, for example, was able to select the content of the course based on her experience of what would be appropriate for seventh-graders in a rural community. She opted to keep the sections on alcohol and tobacco use, but omit the section on ecstasy.
Students' excitement about the games motivated them to complete the lessons in an efficient but attentive manner. Some even reviewed the lessons several times to improve scores.
Overall, the competition, cooperation and individual focus made possible by the web-based course effectively communicated the dangers of substance abuse. On average, the New Glarus students who took the pre-test improved on the post-test.
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