Browse websites such as Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and Teacher Vision. Prepare a list of topics to cover, including factual information about alcohol and its effects as well as the social problems that arise from alcoholism.
Teach about the objective data related to alcohol. Explain its chemical properties, how it passes through the body and the effects it produces on different body systems. Emphasize the effects on the central nervous system. Explain the several factors that influence the intensity of these effects such as age, general physical condition, gender and medication taken concurrently.
Ask students to correlate the effects of alcohol on the brain to practically observable behavior of those who consume alcohol. Instruct them to think about someone they know who drinks alcohol and come up with behavioral traits.
Use the points the students present to point out that alcohol effects vary from one case to another depending on the quantity that a person consumes. Explain the difference between occasional drinking, social drinking and chronic alcoholism or alcohol addiction.
Screen video clips and documentary films such as those available on the website About Alcohol Abuse that convey the realities of alcohol addiction. Present statistics regarding alcohol-induced traffic accidents, deaths, birth defects and disabilities. Invite guest speakers from Alcoholics Anonymous or an alcohol de-addiction center to interact with your students and answer their questions.
Hold a class discussion about why people drink alcohol. Explain how drinking might temporarily relieve stress but that it cannot provide a permanent solution and might even aggravate the problem. Discuss the role of peer pressure, television advertisements and movies in youngsters consuming alcohol.
Teach students ways to assert themselves when they don't wish to drink. For example, tell them they can refuse a drink by saying, "No, thanks. I am not going to drink," and get physically away from the place.