Webquest

WebQuest

INFLUENCING SUBSTANCE

ABUSE BEHAVIOR:

CARING RESPONSES

VERSUS ENABLING

By Linda Polack

John F. Kennedy High School

Health Science

INTRODUCTION:

Substance abuse among teenagers in the United States continues to plague society. Almost everyone knows or knows of someone who has a substance abuse problem. One of the issues surrounding this problem is the influence that friends can have on the substance abuser. A friend can either be an enabler, a person who emotionally supports the problem by allowing the abuser to avoid negative consequences of his or her drug use; or be a “caring individual,” a person who encourages the abuser to confront the problem.

You are a government health official and have been asked to develop a public awareness program for teenagers on the difference and the effect between enabling and caring responses to substance abuse behavior.

TASK:

1. You will examine the websites provided below as well as read the New York Times article to answer questions based on the TIPS six-step Public Policy Analyst.

Select the best policy

2. You will construct a survey to find out whether student subjects exhibit enabling or caring responses based on the situation provided by the teacher or yourself.

3. Based on the information you gather and the conclusions you draw, you will creatively design an ad campaign to promote “caring responses” and combat enabling behavior. Your ad campaign may be 3-5 slide PowerPoint presentation or an oak tag advertisement. You will make a 3-5-minute presentation of your campaign.

PROCESS:

1. Examine the web sites provided below as well as read the New York Times article “Murder Trial Starts In Death Of Man Stuck In Windshield” to help you answer the questions below. Write your answers on the hyperlinked worksheets.

a. Define the problem Worksheet #1: Identify and write statements that demonstrate the difference between enabling and caring responses to substance abuse behavior.

In the article, what responsibility did Mr. Jackson and Mr. Cleveland have in this case?

What responsibility did the friends with whom Ms. Mallard was drinking and taking drugs earlier in the evening have in Mr. Biggs’s death?

b. Gather Evidence for the problem Worksheet #2: Give one or two examples of enabling behavior in the article.

c. Identify the causes of problem Worksheet #3: Why couldn’t Mrs. Mallard see that there was a chance to save Mr. Biggs’ life?

d. Evaluate the Solutions Worksheet #4: What were some of the consequences of Mrs. Mallard’s and her friends’ actions?

e. Develop Solutions Worksheet #5: What else could Mrs. Mallard’s friend have done besides telling her to call 911?

f. Choose the Best Solution Worksheet #6: What would you have done if Mrs. Mallard had called you? What should the justice system do to Mrs. Mallard and her two friends?

2. You are to conduct a survey among your friends to see if they would really help their friend in trouble or enable their friend to avoid the negative consequences of his or her drug use. To accomplish this, you are to present a situation and ask them for their response. You may create your own situation or the following scenario: Your friend calls you up after school and tells you she skipped her afternoon classes to get high with some boys. She said she got so high she wasn’t able to go to work and she wants you to call her employer, pretend you are her mother and offer an excuse- telling the employer that your “daughter” is sick.

3. You will play the role of a government health official and will develop a public awareness campaign to discourage enabling behavior and promote appropriate caring responses. Your campaign may be in the form of a 3-5-slide PowerPoint presentation or an oaktag advertisement. You will make a 3-5-minute oral presentation to the class.

RESOURCES:

1. for the survey:

http://shalomplace.com/res/enabling.html

2. for defining, gathering evidence for, and determining causes of the problem:

http://www.egetgoing.com/othtreatment/16_1_2.asp

http://www.day-one.org/images/Maine%20Parent%20Express%20Fall%202002.pdf

http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/7836/enabling.html

http://wcmhar.org/Enable.htm

http://www.coping.org/found/enable.htm

3. for evaluating existent and developing new public policies:

http://criminal.findlaw.com/crimes/a-z/aiding_abetting_accessory.html

http://www.freevibe.com/stepup/

Article from The New York Times, Tuesday, June 24, 2003:

MURDER TRIAL STARTS

IN DEATH OF MAN

STUCK IN WINDSHIELD

FORT WORTH, June 23 (AP) — Jurors saw pictures of the twisted, bruised and bloody body of a homeless man today as a former nurse’s aide went on trial on charges that she hit him with her car, drove home with his body lodged in the windsheild and left him to die in her garage.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers in the murder case both said the woman, Chante J. Mallard, 27, smoked marijuana, took Ecstasy and drank heavily in the hours before she hit Gregory Biggs on a higihway in the early hours of Oct.26, 2001. The defense says it was an accident.

Ms. Mallard’s lawyer, Jeff Kearney, said Ms. Mallard was just one exit from her home, so she kept driving with “a body entirely in her car, the head in the floorboard, legs going in directions that no one thought humanely possible.”

Ms. Mallard faces life in prison if convicted. She pleaded guilty to a lesser charge, tampering with evidence, before opening statements began on the murder charge.

When the images of Mr. Biggs’s mangled body were shown on a large screen in the courtroom today, Ms. Mallard looked down, and some jurors looked away. Mr. Biggs’s relatives were not in the room when the photos were displayed.

Although Ms. Mallard had taken drugs, the prosecutor, Christy Jack, said she could have stopped at a nearby fire or police station or called an ambulance after she hit Mr. Biggs. She said Ms. Mallard stopped briefly and tried to get Mr. Biggs off her car, but when she cold not, she drove about a mile to her home and called a friend to pick her up. The friend later told Ms. Mallard to call 911, the prosecutor said.

“Chante refused because she didn’t want her parents to know what she’d done and didn’t want to go to jail,” Ms. Jack said.

Mr. Kearney said that after his client pulled into her garage and lowered the door, she sat in the car and cried, repeatedly apologizing to Mr. Biggs, who was moaning.

Mr. Biggs, 37, was found dead the next day, his body dumped in a park.

Two of Ms. Mallard’s friends, Clete Deneal Jackson and Herbert Tyrone Cleveland, have pleaded guilty to dumping the body. The two men received prison sentences of 10 years and 9 years, respectively.

EVALUATION:

Criteria

Points

	UNSATISFACTORY Less than 65	MINIMAL SATISFACTORY 65-79	SATISFACTORY 80-90	EXCELLENT 90-100
Organization	Audience cannot understand presentation because there is no sequence of information.	Audience has difficulty following presentation because student jumps around.	Student presents information in logical sequence which audience can follow.	Student presents information in logical, interesting sequence which audience can follow.	____
Content Knowledge	Student does not have grasp of information; student cannot answer questions about subject.	Student is uncomfortable with information and is able to answer only rudimentary questions.	Student is at ease with content, but fails to elaborate.	Student demonstrates full knowledge (more than required)with explanations and elaboration.	____
Visuals	Student used no visuals.	Student occasional used visuals that rarely support text and presentation.	Visuals related to text and presentation.	Student used visuals to reinforce screen text and presentation.	____
Mechanics	Student's presentation had four or more spelling errors and/or grammatical errors.	Presentation had three misspellings and/or grammatical errors.	Presentation has no more than two misspellings and/or grammatical errors.	Presentation has no misspellings or grammatical errors.	____
Delivery	Student mumbles, incorrectly pronounces terms, and speaks too quietly for students in the back of class to hear.	Student incorrectly pronounces terms. Audience members have difficulty hearing presentation.	Student's voice is clear. Student pronounces most words correctly.	Student used a clear voice and correct, precise pronunciation of terms.	____
				Total---->	____

STANDARDS USED IN THIS WEBQUEST:

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS:

E1C Read and comprehend informational materials.

E2C: Read and comprehend informational materials.

E3B: Participate in group meetings.

HEALTH PERFORMANCE:

S5c: Uses evidence from reliable sources to develop descriptions, explanations and models.

S5: Scientific thinking

S5f: Works individually and in teams to collect and share information.

S6d: Acquires information from multiple sources.

CONCLUSION:

Having completed this WebQuest, you are now able to demonstrate the differences between caring responses and enabling to substance abuse behavior. Through the use of different activities in this project, you are aware of the appropriate steps to take to avoid enabling a friend’s drug use. You have also formulated a public policy that encourages young people to be more active in preventing their friends and peers from the destructive consequences of drug and substance abuse.