3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Changing the Message in Education, April 8, 2005
This review is from: Changing The Message: A Handbook For Experiential Prevention (Paperback)
I loved this book so much, I reviewed it. The Polishing Stone: Issue #6, pg. 16, www.polishingstone.com. Here's the article:
They call him the "Drug Guy," but I call him medicine in motion. Jeff Albin is a certified chemical-dependency professional and a skilled wilderness survivalist with over 15 years experience. I'd already had the pleasure of hearing Jeff speak passionately about incorporating life skills into a compulsory school setting. So when Changing the Message: A Handbook for Experiential Prevention, his book about drug and alcohol prevention, came out, I knew I'd find a more universal message woven within: how to build our children's inherent resiliency so they can engage life at its fullest and make healthy, informed decisions as they grow.
Growing through groups: Jeff is currently working in schools in southern Washington as an Intervention and Prevention Specialist where he uses play to set up group dynamics that foster personal growth. His games focus on essential skills that most educational curricula overlook. Early activities encourage healthy communication, dealing with conflict and how to "refuse anything that doesn't feel physically and emotionally safe." As a group of kids gets more cohesive, the games progress toward building trust and personal connections and the ability to ask for, receive and offer help freely to others. A sense of commitment and involvement develop as kids explore ways to find common ground and consensus. A highly functioning group becomes skilled at goal setting, planning, assessing risk and taking responsibility. These factors build the kind of self confidence that can carry a kid successfully through life. As Jeff says, "The mind is the tool we need to sharpen."
Let the games begin: Jeff has a ready laugh and a discerning eye; it doesn't take him long to size up a group's potential to have fun while learning. As a homeschooling parent, I look for opportunities "outside the box" for our kids. Although Jeff's book is geared toward a prevention program, it's packed with innovative activities and low-budget ideas for game materials. Essentially, this is a grand book of games, all designed
to develop the skills that any person can use to deal with life's daily challenges.
Ropes, high and low: Say "ropes course," and I imagine webbing rigged up an impossibly high wall that I'm terrified to climb. The term "ropes" actually encompasses a range from "low ropes"- on-the-ground games where the focus is a group dynamic - to the more infamous "high-ropes" courses - activities rigged way up in the air. With high ropes, the focus is on the individual climber developing a one-on-one trust relationship with his or her partner, the belayer, who is literally holding the ropes. Beyond some of the obvious benefits - asking for and receiving help, assessing risks and allowing yourself to stop short of a visible goal - unexpected lessons spontaneously arise. Jeff relates the story of a young boy who became frightened and tired during a high-ropes activity. Eventually the entire class gathered, so intent on encouraging him that they willingly passed up their own turns to climb. Sensitivity to the needs of others couldn't ask for a finer "teachable moment."
Jeff's bag of tricks includes stuffed sheep, oversized foam noodles, Hula Hoops, used bicycle tires, retired climbing ropes and rubber chickens ("something about seeing a rubber chicken airborne seems to lighten people up"). For example, Blindfold Rubber-Chicken Tag is played by dividing into pairs each with one blindfolded partner. The sighted partner gives the blindfolded one only verbal directions to tag with, or escape being tagged by, the chicken. They explore communication, trust and safety during post-activity debriefing.
"Sustainable wellness": Laced through the activity plan is the idea that education should focus on "wellness." Jeff's program was inspired by the naturopathic approach, which focuses on building our immune system as a path to greater health. His goal is to reduce "disease causing" factors - overt ones like putdowns and insidious ones like eating sugar for breakfast - and to increase "immune-protective" skills such as respectful
communication. Most school systems isolate troubled youths. Instead, Jeff favors working with the whole class in everyday activities where he has the opportunity to address behaviors and attitudes as they naturally arise.
Students of life: Education has gotten serious. We all know that kids learn well through play. Perhaps the fundamentals could benefit from a few alternatives... "Kids remember the stuff they learned because of two main factors," writes Jeff. "First, they're moving. They generate kinesthetic body memory. Second, they're having fun. People tend to remember times when they were laughing." Jeff also offers us the ultimate challenge:
to create structures that support family life. He says, "A healthy family is still the best prevention program."
Just one rubber chicken: As I sit here typing, my husband Kurt is already thumbing through the activities to find a few to try right away. Why not? Change doesn't have to be such a project: It could be as natural as picking up a few rubber chickens at that funky dollar-store and lobbing one at an unsuspecting daughter...
- Kylie Loynd, Publisher
Jeff Albin is available for training and presentations at skydog@counsellor.com.
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