A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

    FOR RELEASE     August 8,1996                                                   News Media Contact: Rick Miller (202) 401-3076       Safe and Drug-Free Schools Office  1-800-624-0100

Drive of Olympic Athletes Can Help Nation's Youth Resist Drugs and Violence

Americans watched in awe as Kerri Strug put aside pain to take the one final vault that helped clinch a gold medal for the U.S. women's gymnastics team. Tom Dolan, Olympic gold medalist in swimming, struggled to overcome asthma, allergies and an unusually narrow windpipe to become one of the world's best swimmers.

Examples of unprecedented drive, determination and resiliency of Olympic athletes can be incorporated into lessons that are part of free teaching materials available from the U.S. Department of Education's Safe and Drug free Schools Program (SDFSP). The Olympic Spirit Building Resiliency in Youth resource materials can be used as part of school districts' overall strategies to achieve safe and drug free schools.

"Parents, teachers and mentors must send a message of high expectations, provide supportive relationships, and help students develop skills for dealing with the challenges of life," said U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley. "By nurturing in youth a sense of autonomy, a sense of purpose and future, and decision making and communication skills, these lessons will help equip students with resiliency skills that can help them adapt to changes and deal with difficult situations in a positive way."

Research shows that risk factors related to an increased likelihood that young people will use alcohol, tobacco and other drugs include rebelliousness, friends who use drugs, positive parental attitudes towards drug use, lack of life skills and lack of bonds to the community. Resiliency is a quality that can be nurtured and developed in all children to help them combat such risk factors, Riley said. The Olympic Spirit lessons provide practical examples of how the characteristics of resilient youth can be fostered in students to help them resist pressure to use drugs or resort to violence. One of the lessons, for example, covers the importance of setting goals, and uses Olympic athletes and their need for regular training, establishing specific objectives, avoiding drugs and eating properly as strategies to help them reach their goals.

The lessons are general in scope, with specific teaching objectives and suggestions on how to incorporate the experiences of Olympic athletes. They are designed to engage and motivate students, ground youth to the community, and spur local involvement in efforts to achieve safe and drug-free schools. The packet includes a teacher's guide with multi-disciplinary lesson plans, activity suggestions for a single class or a whole school, a video to train teachers, and a classroom poster. The materials were developed for the department by the Learning Systems Group, a non-profit educational organization, in collaboration with the U.S. Olympic Committee. A $620,000 grant from the SDFSP funded the project.

The SDFSP was established in 1986 to provide a comprehensive, coordinated approach to the prevention of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use by young people. The program's mission has expanded recently to include the prevention of school related violence. SDFSP administers a state grant program, and provides technical assistance to schools in the development of comprehensive programs to prevent violence and drug use.

The package is available by calling the SDFSP at 1-800-624-0100.

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