I. INTRODUCTION

1. Meaning of the word "prevention"?
When we speak about "prevention" we think of measures that are taken in the field of education to avoid
violence,vandalism,drugs,discrimination etc.

2. What about the situation concerning these problems at our school?
There are about 300 students between 13 and 17 years old at our school. But there is a secondary modern school (200 st.) and a so-called "Orientierungsstufe" (300 st. 10 to 12) in our building as well. On the one hand, there is obviously almost no physical violence at our school. But on the other hand, we can often find "verbal violence" (= discrimination).There are not too many cases of real strong "mobbing".  I must admit that taking drugs is a big problem. During school time (in the breaks) it's "only " cigarettes. But in the free time it's alcohol,"soft" drugs and pills.

3. What has been done in the field of prevention before the students come to Realschule Barssel?
Of course,there are efforts in the nursey schools and primary schools. There is a lot of advice given in the curricula to strengthen the self-confidence of young children,but it always depends on the time the teachers have to talk about prevention and to act. In my opinion, there is not too much time for social and emotional learning at those institutions. And do families take their time to help their children to be fit for society emotionally as well as socially?
We all know about the changes in society and the consequences for families!

4. What do we usually do to support prevention at our school?
Our form masters accompany their classes from the 7th to the 10th class (=school year). So he/she has some influence concerning the behaviour,the social situation,the kind of solving problems etc of his/her students. In the first weeks of the 7th class we usually take some time to discuss rules with them. We tell them to be open and honest, and they know that there will be strict consequences if they do not observe the rules. We try to create a friendly atmosphere in our classroom and within the class (that means among the students). Some of us try to have a close contact to the parents, so that we really know if problems occur. But all these measures are not a "must" - some of us take them, others do not. Anyway - I can say that teachers and students have done a lot of progress so far in creating a good social atmosphere at our school.

The curricula in subjects like biology and politics demand a discussion of certain aspects of "prevention". Especially the problem of taking drugs and its results for the personal health (biology) and the society (politics) is taught in those subjects. The modern school books for politics give a lot of good material to speak about the problems of violence and discrimination, and we always get a lot of material from different institutions. They all want us to do something about prevention, but at the same time they want us to do more in maths and science, German and foreign languages etc. But when?

II. THE SIGN PROJECT AT OUR SCHOOL
   
1.INTRODUCTION
This project was started at our school in 2001. The three form masters of the 7th classes took part in a special training course (3 days) so that they were able to teach their students in the field of prevention. This projects is continuing now in the 8th classes (after another training in the beginning of this school year). The three form masters of the students who are now in the 7th classes took part in a training course as well. 
So we can say that , at the moment , there are six classes who are "taught" prevention one hour (= one lesson) a week. Luckily we are free to decide about some priorities,so we decided to take away one lesson of a different subject from the timetable.

Each of our "prevention teachers" has got the whole programme of the training course with a lot of suggestions for lessons ,role plays ,games and explanations. Each students has got a brochure and a file with a lot of papers. When starting the project we gave brochures to the parents,too. Who gives the money for all the equipment and the training of the teachers? It's a company for electric power and telecommunication in Northwest Germany called Energieversorgung Weser-Ems (EWE). They engaged an agency called "agentur prevent" to work out a plan for starting a big prevention project at schools in our regions. And here it is: the sign-project named "Skills for Adolescence"!
 
2. THE PROGRAMME: "SKILLS FOR ADOLESCENCE" from "LIONS-QUEST"
The authors of this programme wanted to find answers to the question: What can we do at school to help our students on their way getting grown-ups in a time and in a society when/where it's difficult to find values and rules accepted by everyone?

So they tried to work out answers to help them
- to reflect their abilities and their acting
- to strengthen their self-confidence
- to decide for a life without addictions
- to tolerate and respect other people
- to take over responsibility
- get socially integrated and to be active in society.
 
The well-known international Lions Club decided to support a certain prevention programme (called "Life Skills Education") which had been developed by Quest International (an American "non-profit-organization" which works out programmes concerning prevention). One of the projects is called "Skills for Adolescence" which was sponsored not only by Lions but also by the Kellog Foundation and the Levi Strauss Foundation.

In the 90s this programme was "brought" to Germany. Here ,several teachers worked together with the famous German professor of education, Mr Hurrelmann about the possibility to practise this programme in German schools. They started in 1994, and by now there are more tan 8,000 teachers who are taking part in the programme. It is still accompanied by the University of Bielefeld. 

In Germany this programme is called "Erwachsen werden" (= Getting a grown-up).
I try to summarize its aims: IT'S NOT IMPORTANT TO TALK ABOUT ADDICTION, DRUGS AND VIOLENCE. IT'S IMPORTANT TO GIVE OUR CHILDREN THE CONFIDENCE AND THE ABILITY TO MANAGE LIFE IN OUR SOCIETY.TEACHERS (AND PARENTS) MUST HAVE A CLOSE LOOK AT THE NEEDS AND DESIRES OF THE YOUNG TO START FROM THERE HELPING THEM TO ACT SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE AND GIVING A CERTAIN COMPETENCE OF COMMUNICATION. THIS KIND OF SOCIAL LEARNING CAN ONLY BE DONE IN AN ATMOSPHERE OF MUTUAL RESPECT AND WITHOUT STRESS!

Big words, but when starting the programme in everyday school life it's good to keep the theoretical background in mind. At our school we know that there is only one-lesson-time to work with this project. That means you have to choose among the 73 themes that you can find in "Erwachsen werden".

3. SEVEN IMPORTANT STEPS OF THE PROGRAMM

After a lot of (necessary) theory there are seven chapters (with 73 themes):

3.1. My group and me : It's about getting an approach to yourself and finding your position in the class and about managing problems in puberty.

3.2. Strengthening the self-confidence and helping to take over responsibility and the to decide!

3.3. Discovering emotions and coping with them

3.4. Relationships with my friends and members of the group. How to react on pressure? How to cope with conflicts (especially mobbing)?

3.5. My home and my family - communication, conflicts, pleasure.

3.6. Some information about drugs and addictions and help institutions. Try to find the right decision in a time and a society with a lot of contradictions and problems.

3.7. I know what I want to do in my future. Steps on the way to be an adult. What are my aims?

At last there is a chapter with a lot of energizers , games you can play with your class to wake them up, to help them to find solutions, to have fun in a good atmosphere etc. Then ,finally, you will find some advice about the cooperation with parents.

When you want to find more information about this project , please click on the website: www.sign-project.de

I will ask my students to give some examples from the lessons, and I hope some photos will follow.    
 
Herbert Fassio