Importance of Emotional Competence in Designing an Antidrug Education Curriculum for Junior Secondary School Students in Hong Kong

Adolescent substance abuse is a serious problem in Hong Kong. Antidrug education campaigns should aim at enhancing students' understanding of the effects of illegal drugs to themselves. Moreover, life skill training is important in helping adolescents face life's challenges without attempt...

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Main Authors: Ben M. F. Law, Tak Yan Lee
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2011-01-01
Series:The Scientific World Journal
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1100/2011/127894
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author Ben M. F. Law
Tak Yan Lee
author_facet Ben M. F. Law
Tak Yan Lee
author_sort Ben M. F. Law
collection DOAJ
description Adolescent substance abuse is a serious problem in Hong Kong. Antidrug education campaigns should aim at enhancing students' understanding of the effects of illegal drugs to themselves. Moreover, life skill training is important in helping adolescents face life's challenges without attempting to do drugs. A major component of life skill training is the promotion of emotional competence. The present study outlines the importance of emotional competence and adolescent development. For an antidrug education campaign to be effective, adolescents should be able to identify their emotions and understand their own emotion regulation mechanism. Likewise, they should be made aware of the consequences of their emotions and emotion-driven behaviors. Finally, the use of an inspirational story with a strong message against substance abuse to trigger emotions is recommended for designing an antidrug education curriculum. All these components are integrated in the newly developed curriculum of the P.A.T.H.S. Project in Hong Kong.
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spelling doaj-art-6ca3f782d10c45fb9e4eb6b9edb15fd32025-08-20T02:06:43ZengWileyThe Scientific World Journal1537-744X2011-01-01112257226510.1100/2011/127894127894Importance of Emotional Competence in Designing an Antidrug Education Curriculum for Junior Secondary School Students in Hong KongBen M. F. Law0Tak Yan Lee1Department of Social Work and Social Administration, The University of Hong Kong, Hong KongDepartment of Applied Social Studies, City University of Hong Kong, Hong KongAdolescent substance abuse is a serious problem in Hong Kong. Antidrug education campaigns should aim at enhancing students' understanding of the effects of illegal drugs to themselves. Moreover, life skill training is important in helping adolescents face life's challenges without attempting to do drugs. A major component of life skill training is the promotion of emotional competence. The present study outlines the importance of emotional competence and adolescent development. For an antidrug education campaign to be effective, adolescents should be able to identify their emotions and understand their own emotion regulation mechanism. Likewise, they should be made aware of the consequences of their emotions and emotion-driven behaviors. Finally, the use of an inspirational story with a strong message against substance abuse to trigger emotions is recommended for designing an antidrug education curriculum. All these components are integrated in the newly developed curriculum of the P.A.T.H.S. Project in Hong Kong.http://dx.doi.org/10.1100/2011/127894
spellingShingle Ben M. F. Law
Tak Yan Lee
Importance of Emotional Competence in Designing an Antidrug Education Curriculum for Junior Secondary School Students in Hong Kong
The Scientific World Journal
title Importance of Emotional Competence in Designing an Antidrug Education Curriculum for Junior Secondary School Students in Hong Kong
title_full Importance of Emotional Competence in Designing an Antidrug Education Curriculum for Junior Secondary School Students in Hong Kong
title_fullStr Importance of Emotional Competence in Designing an Antidrug Education Curriculum for Junior Secondary School Students in Hong Kong
title_full_unstemmed Importance of Emotional Competence in Designing an Antidrug Education Curriculum for Junior Secondary School Students in Hong Kong
title_short Importance of Emotional Competence in Designing an Antidrug Education Curriculum for Junior Secondary School Students in Hong Kong
title_sort importance of emotional competence in designing an antidrug education curriculum for junior secondary school students in hong kong
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1100/2011/127894
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