Good Learning Co.
SavannahYear 8
← RSHE
RSHEEveryday physical health20 min★ difficulty

Drugs, alcohol and tobacco: the actual risks

Accurate information works better than scare stories, because scare stories fall apart the moment a young person meets one exception.

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Understand the risks of drugs, alcohol and tobacco, and where to get support

Key learning points

  • • The facts, briefly
  • • Pressure is rarely a shove
  • • Where to get help

This lesson at a glance

  • 20 minutes
  • 16 parts to scroll through
  • 4 quick checks
  • Marked quiz at the end
  • Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

alcoholtobaccosupportbrieflypressure

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 16 · Discover6%
1

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 16

Watch first

Drugs, alcohol and tobacco: the actual risks

An English teaching video on this topic from ClickView. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.

In a nutshell

Understand the risks of drugs, alcohol and tobacco, and where to get support

2

Learning cycle

Part 2 of 16

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Part 1 · The facts, briefly

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

3

Explore the idea

Part 3 of 16

Learn

The facts, briefly

Alcohol affects a developing brain more than an adult one and is a factor in accidents and regretted decisions. Smoking and vaping deliver nicotine, which is strongly addictive; long-term effects of vaping are still being studied, and selling either to under-eighteens is illegal. Illegal drugs vary hugely in strength and content, which is where much of the danger sits.

4

Explore the idea

Part 4 of 16

Learn

Pressure is rarely a shove

It usually arrives as ordinary social pressure: everyone else appears to be doing it. Having a prepared line helps — 'not for me', a reason that is boring, or simply going to get a drink. A plan made in a calm moment works better than a decision made in a loud room.

5

Quick check

Part 5 of 16

Quick check

Why does alcohol affect teenagers differently?

6

Quick check

Part 6 of 16

Quick check

What makes nicotine a particular risk?

7

Reset break

Part 7 of 16

Pause

That's sitting 1 of 2 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now
8

Learning cycle

Part 8 of 16

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Part 2 · Where to get help

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

9

Explore the idea

Part 9 of 16

Learn

Where to get help

A GP, school nurse, FRANK for drug information and Childline for confidential talk. Someone worried about a friend or a family member can use the same services. Asking a question is not a confession.

10

Quick check

Part 10 of 16

Quick check

What does pressure usually look like?

11

Quick check

Part 11 of 16

Quick check

Where can someone get confidential information?

12

Explore the idea

Part 12 of 16

Worked example

Worked example: a plan you would actually use

A vague 'I'll just say no' rarely survives contact with a real evening. A usable plan is specific: who you will stand near, what you will say, how you will get home, and one person you can message. Deciding those four things in advance removes most of the pressure in the moment.

13

Challenge round

Part 13 of 16

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

14

Challenge round

Part 14 of 16

Game · Fill the gaps

Finish the sentences

Choose the word that belongs in each gap.

____ affects a developing brain more than an adult one and is a factor in accidents and regretted decisions.

It usually arrives as ordinary social ____: everyone else appears to be doing it.

15

Mastery quiz

Part 15 of 16

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: Drugs, alcohol and tobacco: the actual risks

4 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.

  1. 1. Why does alcohol affect teenagers differently?

  2. 2. What makes nicotine a particular risk?

  3. 3. What does pressure usually look like?

  4. 4. Where can someone get confidential information?

16

Lesson round-up

Part 16 of 16

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

Quiz score

Not sat

Games

Not played

Points this lesson

0

Best run

0 in a row

Luna: 0 out of 4 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?

Ask Luna

Do the work

Your written work for this lesson

This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.

Case study

The group chat

Ellie is added to a class group chat with twenty-six people in it. At first it is jokes and homework questions. Then someone screenshots a private message from a girl in another class and posts it. Several people laugh. Two people leave the chat. Ellie says nothing, and feels bad about it that evening.

The next day the girl is off school. A teacher asks the class about the chat. Nobody wants to be the one who tells.

Staying silent can feel like the safest choice in the moment. It also leaves the person who was hurt on their own.

Written for Good Learning Co.

Reading questions

  1. What choices did Ellie have at the moment the screenshot was posted?
  2. Who could she tell, and what would each of them be able to do?
  3. Write what you would do in this situation and why, in 6–8 sentences.

  • Thinking it through

    Writing

    Write what you would do in this situation, who you would ask, and why.

    6–8 sentences

Saved as you type.

Part 1 of 16 · Watch & discover

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