Choices for Life: Sophie's Story

Tags: teenage party

Targeted Drugs: Alcohol

Bronze

This resource has undergone expert review.

Year:

Year 7–8

Time Allocated

Partial lesson (under 45mins)

Links to National Curriculum

Origin

International

Cost

Free

Content Especially Suited For

Girls

Available

This video is available on YouTube

Watch 'Sophie's Story' video

There are 3 videos in this series. See also: Liam's Story and Scott's Story.

Developers

Choices for Life, PACE Media Products, Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency.

Summary

Video length: 14:56

Sophie and her friend are invited to a party where there will be older kids and alcohol. The video explores peer pressure and highlights potential social consequences as well as the physical dangers of intoxication.

Class Activities and Discussion Points

Accompanying Discussion Points:

Why is Sophie’s Dad worried about her progress at school?
How does Natasha influence Sophie’s decision about going to the party?
Why is Sophie concerned about having alcohol before or at the party?
What impact could alcohol have on Sophie’s ability to make decisions?
What were the physical signs that Sophie had been drinking?
What could Natasha do to help Sophie when she becomes ill?
Why does Ben decide that he does not want anything else to drink?
What could happen to Sophie as a result of drinking at the party?

Follow-up Class Activities:

1. In pairs come up with ‘Top 10 Tips’ for keeping yourself safe when you go out to parties or
other social events. Present your ideas creatively and share with the class or school to spread the word.

2. Storyboard: With your group, create a story board of 6 slides about an imaginary character. This character is going to highlight a problem that alcohol can create. Each slide should show a potential danger for young people who drink alcohol. After your story board is complete, your character should give a message to other young people about the dangers of drinking alcohol. What do you think they would like to tell them about alcohol harms and what they can do?

Expected Benefits

Increased knowledge of alcohol-related effects and harms.

Evidence Base

Expert Review*:

Sophie's Story is one of three videos in the ‘Choices for Life’ series. These videos are of a very high production quality and feature a young cast who are believable, relatable and likeable. Each video follows the story of a particular teenager and their experiences as they encounter drug/alcohol use. Despite covering many potential consequences of drug use, the videos avoid being preachy or unbelievable. While the depicted consequences are serious, they are not sensationalised. The central messages follow a social influence approach, which is an effective and well-supported model for drug prevention with young people. The context, messages and drug-related consequences are suitable for and relevant to the target age group. Teachers should note the actors speak with Scottish accents however the content should be easily understandable for most students.

In this video, the consequences of binge drinking are explored through Sophie’s experiences at a teenage house party. Sophie’s story covers a range of issues related to teen binge drinking, particularly the social consequences, implications of social media and the ease with which photos can be circulated widely. The video also illustrates the increased risks of physical injury associated with binge drinking. Overall, this is an excellent video. Though tailored to the Scottish education system, the associated materials maintain their relevance to the Alcohol and other Drugs (AD) components of the Australian Health and Physical Education curriculum for Year 7-8.

* Review provided by researchers at the Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use at the University of Sydney.

Drug and Alcohol Information

Video