Journalism Lesson Plan

Overview:A White Paper in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows underage drinkers account for 19.7 percent of all alcohol consumed in the U.S. and contribute $22.5 billion spent on alcohol annually. The paper, by Susan Foster, vice president of the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA), also indicates the likelihood of young drinkers to become alcohol dependent.

Suggested time allotment: Students can read the White Paper and other research on teens an alcohol and spend two weeks on current research, including interviews with area doctors and other specialists. They can then spend a week packaging the material for publishing in the student newspaper, newsmagazine or broadcast.

Objectives

Students will:

1. Research the situation nationally.
2. Interview local experts, especially those involved in substance abuse and such organizations as Alcoholics Anonymous.
3. Discuss the pros and cons of a local survey. Although this seems to be an obvious angle, be aware that surveys, to be statistically accurate and credible, take a great deal of skill to develop and administer. Those on topics such as alcohol and drug use can be problematic at the high school level if students in the sample don’t take the questions seriously or don’t understand the questions or if the sample is not chosen carefully. Check out information about surveys on the sites below before considering this.
4. Report the results. This might become a package of stories and graphics, including the results of the White Paper and what local experts believe; sources for help with teen substance abuse; interviews with area liquor stores or the like, explaining their policies, etc.

Standards: National Council of Teachers of English and International Reading Association Standards for English Language Arts:

4. Students adjust their use of spoken, written and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
5. Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.

7. Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and nonprint texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.
8. Students use a variety of technological and informational resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.
12. Students use spoken, written and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion and the exchange of information).

Resources and materials:
Web sites with information:
• The original document: “CASA White Paper: Underage and adult excessive drinking accounts for half of U.S. alcohol sales.”
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• The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism of the National Institutes of Health has a Web site about “Understanding Underage Drinking.” This includes explanation of the problem, statistics and future directions.
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• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also had fairly current stats on underage drinking.
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• Journalist Robert Niles hosts a Web site with lots of info about conducting and analyzing surveys. The Math and Statistics links on the right are useful, as are many links under “Want more tips?” and “Basic Stuff.”
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