Above The Influence

Above The Influence - Youth Substance Use Prevention Program

Teen substance abuse continues to be a significant public health problem in Orange County, with children experimenting with various substances at very young ages. To reduce the risk a child will use a dangerous substance as a teenager, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and Drug Use is Life Abuse have created a drug prevention program called Above The Influence.

Above The Influence is a six-week substance abuse prevention program for fifth and sixth-grade students taught by deputies with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. The curriculum satisfies most state standards for Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs.

Students will learn the following:

• 

  How the 911 emergency services system works

• The disease of addiction and how poor choices early in life can lead to a long-term struggle with addiction.
• The common reasons why young people use addictive substances and healthy alternatives to substance use.
• The addictive properties of nicotine and how tobacco products harm the body over time.
• The dangers of vaping and how it can lead to lung injury, cancer, and other diseases.
•  Critically analyze tobacco and alcohol industry advertisements for deceptive messaging targeting young people.
• The dangers of binge drinking and driving under the Influence.
• The dangers of marijuana use, including links to schizophrenia, anxiety, depression, lung injury, memory and concentration problems, and poor school performance.
• How to read medication labels
• The dangers of fentanyl use and its rising prevalence in Orange County
• The risks of using performance-enhancing drugs
• How to assertively refuse peer pressure and to seek positive peer groups to reduce drug influences.

To learn more about Above The Influence or to request the program for your students, please complete the program interest form.  You may also call (714) 647-4014 or email CommunityEngagement@ocsheriff.gov.