Why do girls need Friendly PEERsuasion?

Peer pressure is a staple of youth. The pressures felt by girls are often perceived as being greater than that felt by boys. Girls have a plethora of reasons for turning to drugs and alcohol, like pressure to stay slim, be popular, appear mature or escape overwhelming problems. Standard prevention programs are not tailored to the specific needs of girls, rendering them ineffective. Truly preventative programs must take into consideration the facts related to and special needs of girls.

The Statistics

In 2000, 7% of girls in grade 8 and 30% of girls in grades 9 to12 reported currently using tobacco products.

Among young women who currently smoke, 92.3% believe persons can get addicted to cigarettes, and yet 23.8% think it is safe to smoke one to two years and then quit.

Of high-school-aged young women who currently smoke, 20% think smokers have more friends; 12.4% think smokers look cool.

The percentage of 8th grade girls who use marijuana has nearly tripled in the last decade from 5% in 1991 to 14% in 2000.

By the time girls reach their senior year in high school, 34% report periodic heavy drinking.

The use of diet pills is dramatically higher among young women than it is among young men. In 2000, 27% of young women in grade 12 reported some experience with diet pills.

More adolescent girls than boys reported feeling a lot of stress, and more say they use cigarettes (66% versus 49%) and alcohol (38% versus 27%) to deal with stress.

41% of girls in the 9th grade use alcohol.

Binge drinking (5 or more drinks in a row) increased from 19% in 1990 to 23% in 2000.

In the United States, an estimated 4.6 million women abuse or are dependent on alcohol.

Friendly PEERsuasion

The Friendly PEERsuasion program is a two-part program specially tailored for the needs of girls 11-14 years old. This program allows girls to learn about the causes, appearance and effects of peer influence. By approaching drug abuse prevention as a peer issue, this program allows girls real world experience in using positive, healthy behavior to influence peers. In addition to learning communication skills and stress indicators, this program teaches girls to combat stress in healthy ways. These three areas of knowledge are the foundation for decision making and resistance skills.

Girls are able to model behavior with this two-part program.

Part I: Girls 11 – 14 are given foundation skills (communication, decision- making and assertiveness) so that they can practice saying no to negative, dangerous behaviors/activities. Girls play games, have group discussions, role play, learn about the effects of drug use/abuse on the body and mind and recognize indicators of peer pressure and better ways to manage stress.

Part II: Girls who have completed Part I work together to create prevention activities for girls 6 – 10 years old. These activities allow girls to act as role models and leaders and reinforce their commitment to avoid illegal substances, tobacco and alcohol.

Girls who participated in Girls Inc. Friendly PEERsuasion were more likely to avoid situations where peers were smoking, drinking, or using drugs.

After participating in Friendly PEERsuasion training, only 22% of girls ages 11 to 12 reported smoking, drinking, or using other drugs, compared with 34% of girls who did not participate. One month after completion of the program, the same group of participants showed no increase in substance use, while those who did not participate increased substance use by 6 percentage points, from 34% to 40%.

After Friendly PEERsuader training, only 4% of participants ages 11 and 12 reported staying in situations where peers were smoking, drinking, or using other drugs; 14% of girls who did not participate reported staying in situations where peers engaged in such behavior.

Nonparticipants in Friendly PEERsuasion were more likely than participants to approve of drinking alcohol and more likely to stay in situations in which others were drinking.

Friendly PEERsuasion was named an Effective Program by the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention in their 2001 Exemplary Program Awards.