Schools use a large number of different strategies to reduce or prevent youth substance use and other problem behaviors. A recent national study of school- based prevention (Gottfredson & Gottfredson, 2001) showed that the median number of different pre- vention activities currently underway in the typical school was 14. The number of such activities ranged from 0 in some schools to 66 in others. Schools also make regular use of a broad array of activities. All schools use rules and policies to deter substance pos- session and use or other problem behaviors. Nine of 10 schools provide information about tobacco, alco- hol, other drugs, violence, accidents, health or men- tal health, or risky sexual behavior. Three quarters of schools provide prevention lessons in the form of curriculum instruction. Many schools employ in- terventions directed at students as well as at or- ganizational or environmental arrangements. Cur- riculum and instruction, counseling, behavioral and recreation programs are among the former. Alter- ations in schedules, architectural features, and instruc- tional or classroom management practices are among the latter. Just over half of America’s schools have explicit security or surveillance programs. Little is known about the effectiveness of most of these school- based activities for reducing or preventing substance use.
Reviews of research on school-based substance abuse prevention have concluded that some forms of school-based prevention are effective and have iden- tified a few characteristics related to effectiveness. The following section summarizes what is known about the effectiveness of school-based substance abuse prevention.