Faculty can adopt a practice known as curriculum infusion as a means of alcohol and drug education and prevention. In a curriculum infusion approach, educators design lesson plans that use contemporary, real-life issues as the context for teaching their subject.

Alcohol and drug education can be successfully infused into any subject area (e.g., math, history, composition, social studies). Students learn subject matter while addressing the impact that alcohol and drugs have on themselves and society. Research and best practice are revealing that this approach can enhance academic learning experiences for students and will help ensure that all students become educated about this important issue.

Below are some suggestions on how to incorporate alcohol/drug education into the classroom and curriculum:

Bulletin boards and exhibits:

• Have students develop a prevention message bulletin board on alcohol/drug topics. Have them present to your class and use a highly traveled area of campus to display it.
• Have students construct a display that shows amounts spent on alcohol, including all alcohol related costs, and then what students could purchase for those amounts, e.g., an iPod, 30 compact disks, 60 pizzas, books for the year, 70 trips to the movies.
• Have students do their version of  “the life experience wall” where you ask people to write down on index cards how the abuse of alcohol or other drugs has affected their lives. These cards then make up the “bricks of the wall.” Find a place on campus to display it.

Class projects:

• Arrange for guest speakers on hot topics like the drinking age, zero tolerance laws, or fake IDs.
• Have the Health Promotion LOKAHI peer education program on campus give a “PARTY” presentation on alcohol and other drugs. Call 956-3574 to schedule a presentation or visit us at our Health Promotion website: http://www.hawaii.edu/shs/healthpromotion_tab.htm.
• Show a film if class time permits.
• Films like 28 Days, Traffic, Leaving Las Vegas, or When a Man Loves a Woman set the scene for some great discussion. Include student leaders, other faculty, or prevention experts.
• Give students real world questions to consider; for example, what would happen to them if they were cited in this community for underage drinking, public intoxication, destruction of property, or physical violence?
• Use alcohol and drug surveys and results as examples or to raise discussion points. National, state, and UH-Manoa surveys are available. http://www.hawaii.edu/shs/healthpromotion_tab.htm
• Suggest student research papers on alcohol or other drugs as related to your course topic (marketing, legal issues, history, biology, economics, sociology).
• Have students write articles suitable for publication in the student newspaper on various alcohol and other drug issues.
• Have students organize a “mock trial” that focuses on alcohol  issues (e.g., driving under the influence, alcohol poisoning, assault), using students as defendants, witnesses and jury.
• Have students develop and perform peer theatre or skits on topics such as alcohol poisoning or alcohol-related sexual assault, followed by a discussion.
• Have students volunteer to do community service projects with local agencies that focus on alcohol/drug addiction and recovery.

Links and detailed information regarding curriculum infusion:

The Center for Alcohol and Substance Education (CASE) at the University of Virginia
The University of Richmond
Hobart and William Smith College
Syracuse University