Health: Anti-Drug Video Assignment

Dick Moss, Editor

Want an effective way to communicate an anti-drug message to your students?

Place them in the role of anti-drug advocates by having them produce a short video advertisement on the topic. Aside from the role-playing, it will also force them to investigate the facts about drug use.

And it's a great way to expose your students to several anti-drug messages from the people whose opinion they value the most — their peers.

Organization
Divide your class into groups of five or less, and tell each group they must produce a 30-60 second video advertisement persuading viewers not to take drugs. The drugs could include tobacco, alcohol, or other drugs.

Specify that any information used in the ads must be accurate. And insist on approving the scripts before they are “aired.”

Depending on how much time you want to spend on this project, you could have students go through a complete production process. This might include writing a research report, then a script and/or series of story boards for the video, all of which you would approve before going into production.

References:
1. Kenneth Tillman & Patricia Rizzo Toner, How to Survive Teaching Health, Parker Publishing Company, 1990.
2. Shannon Whalen, Dominick Splendorio, Sal Chiariello, Tools for Teaching Health, Jossey-Bass, 2007.

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