We don’t fall into addictions, we prioritize a healthy lifestyle!

Since 2018, we have been implementing successive editions of the project: “We don’t fall into addictions, we prioritize a healthy lifestyle!” (co-funded by the budget of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship – Regional Social Policy Center in Rzeszów). This program belongs to the so-called universal (primary) prevention and aims to support the education of students in schools in the field of prevention of addiction to psychoactive substances, promotion of healthy and active lifestyle, organization of leisure time, and development of passions and interests. Its goal is to raise awareness among students about the dangers of using intoxicating substances, psychoactive substances, replacement substances, new psychoactive substances, and non-medical use of medicinal products, which can lead to addiction. Additionally, it aims to show the possibilities of obtaining various forms of support in the immediate environment and developing one’s own protective mechanisms (including the development of assertiveness skills and coping with stress). The preventive workshops implemented as part of the public task are based on the assumptions of the American All Stars program. They take into account the following school factors: a friendly school climate, good communication between students and teachers, teachers’ expectations adjusted to the children’s abilities, and clear rules of behavior at school. Furthermore, the workshops program utilizes gamification, which consciously employs mental mechanisms used in computer or narrative games to modify human behavior in situations that are not games. Gamification is based on the pleasure associated with overcoming challenges, competition, or cooperation, and it encourages and motivates action at the same time. It involves solving real problems such as lack of engagement or motivation among a selected group of people for a specific purpose.

So far, our beneficiaries have been primary school students from the Podkarpackie Voivodeship. We are currently implementing the 4th edition, and we are delighted to see the effects of our efforts.