Political ads are designed to play on viewers' emotions. The focus of this resource is on ads that feature children, either to establish the candidate as family friendly, or to create fear for children in the minds of viewers. Groups...

Pick your poison: tobacco, alcohol, opiates, cocaine, or marijuana. An online exhibition launches a research project that asks groups to select one of the five drugs and gather information on how the use of the drug and the regulations...

The I-STOP law was designed to regulate the distribution and tracking of prescription drugs. After reading an article about its signing and implementation, middle and high schoolers work together to come up with their own ideas for an...

Young scholars evaluate the effectiveness of 'shock tactics' to discourage drug abuse. They view a video about the death of a 21-year-old heroin addict. In small groups they discuss the video and complete comment sheet.

How bad is the opioid crisis in America? Has it gotten worse in the last few decades? Why? High schoolers delve into these questions with a thorough and thoughtful lesson from The New York Times on heroin prescription opioids....

Two activities ask high schoolers to consider the role of alcohol culture in their lives. First, groups analyze the types of appeals used in newspaper ads for alcoholic drinks and compare those images with what they have observed....

Students explore persuasive writing in advertisements. In this advertisements lesson plan, students evaluate tobacco advertisements for persuasion techniques. Students then create a counter advertisement against smoking.

Telling young people to just say no can be difficult in a world that inundates them with messages to just say yes. A lesson on media messages encourages teenagers to analyze song lyrics and advertisements that mention drugs...

For some people, the force of addiction can be as biologically compelling as the drive for food or water. High schoolers watch a video segment about Ryan, a recovering addict, and learn more about how opioids and other drugs can affect...

Students develop critical thinking skills as they construct arguments for one of the three debates described in the lesson on "The Other Drug War."

Students view a PBS "In the Mix" video about smoking and identify cigarette ingredients, the physical effects of smoking and techniques used in tobacco advertising. They compose a letter persuading someone to quit smoking.

Third graders examine the negatives effects smoking can have on health. They look at advertisement to determine the effects of smoking on one's images. Working with a partner they make a paper bag puppet to use in role play. Finally,...

"Understanding Influences," a richly detailed, carefully scaffolded unit, asks middle and high school scholars to examine how internal and external factors like friends, media, and society influence their attitudes and...

Students explore the health risks associated with wearing decorative contact lenses. They research other cosmetic modes of expression that can pose health risks and debate whether these practices should remain legal.

Art forms, especially government-sponsored "poster art", very effectively conveyed specific cultural values during World War II. Understanding the role that visual images play in expressing issues and ideas is critical to developing...