The keepin’ it REAL curriculum is a series of 10 lessons designed to be taught in 40-45 minutes each. The objective of the lessons is to help youth develop positive life skills such as risk assessment, decision-making and drug resistance, while enhancing anti-drug norms and attitudes. The curriculum was designed from the beginning as a culturally-appropriate intervention incorporating ethnic values and practices that protect against drug use. It was developed from narratives (stories) collected from adolescents in each ethnic group, which were then used to create the five videos used in the curriculum. Each video dramatizes drug use situations faced by students, and each ends with successful drug resistance. Enjoyable activities are included in each lesson to illustrate the skills and allow students to practice the REAL drug-resistance strategies.

The REAL Strategies

Research revealed four strategies adolescents used to successfully resist offers of substance use without becoming social outcasts. These strategies form the acronym REAL, which students translated into "keepin’ it REAL" as a title for the program. These strategies are:

1. REFUSE - Simply saying "no" to substance use offers.
   
2. EXPLAIN - Giving more elaborate reasons for refusal (such as "I have asthma and I can’t smoke anything.") This strategy stresses the importance of dealing with others in a respectful, non-confrontational manner.
   
3. AVOID - Avoiding situations where substances may be used and offered. (For example, deciding not to attend a party where kids will be drinking.)
   
4. LEAVE - Leaving situations where substances are used and offered. (For example, leaving a party when kids begin drinking.) 

Multicultural values were incorporated in the curriculum:

The curriculum was created with a focus on Latino values such as familismo (family orientation), respeto (respect), personalismo (personal treatment), simpatía (niceness), with the objective for the student to:

• Recognize that what he or she does affects his or her community, group and family
• Differentiate between simple preference and "wise choice" – a choice that is honorable and can be respected

The curriculum also includes non-Latino values such as goal orientation and individualism from Anglo and African-American culture, with the objective for the student to:

• Recognize that what he or she does may have favorable or unfavorable consequences on his or her future goals
• Differentiate between simple preference and "wise choice" – a choice that helps the student to achieve his or her personal goals

A multicultural curriculum was developed by incorporating five lessons from the Mexican-American and Non-Latino versions. For a large sample of Phoenix, Arizona middle-school students, the Multicultural version had the widest appeal and the highest level of effectiveness.

The Lessons

Each lesson includes a lesson outline, an activity sheet with instructions, student worksheets for use in class and as homework, and notes to the teacher. The lessons are designed to promote interaction among the students as well as between students and teacher, so that the students are involved in their own learning. The students’ performance on the homework allows teachers to assess how well they are grasping the skills and knowledge taught in class.

The lessons include a variety of teaching techniques aimed at encouraging student participation such as group work, role-plays, pair discussion, and games. Overheads and in-class worksheets are provided (worksheets in Spanish are included). Each lesson includes a homework assignment and, starting with lesson two, a review of the previous lesson’s concepts.

The Videos

Five videos are used in the curriculum. The introductory video accompanying lesson one is designed to get students excited about the program and introduce them to the high school students who wrote the scripts, produced and acted in the next four videos, which focus on the REAL. strategies. Each of these four videos demonstrates refusal skills in depth, using one strategy. The videos were created "for youth, by youth" so that the ethnic culture and youth culture infused in them make the messages in the videos more relevant to and more readily accepted by students.

Booster Activities

After the curriculum is taught, periodic "booster shots" of activities are suggested to keep the curriculum from fading from the students’ memories. Some activities which have worked well for Phoenix teachers include creating bumper stickers, making posters and making brochures (to be handed out at a neighborhood carnival). The curriculum includes examples of and materials for booster activities.

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