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About Us
MISSION
The PSU Student Prevention & Wellness program strives to enhance
each student’s understanding of the health risks that present
themselves as part of the college experience. This is done in the
belief that giving students up-to-date information and practical
options results in more healthy and satisfying college experiences.
The office also serves as resource of prevention and wellness information
and education for faculty and administration.
GORILLAS IN YOUR MIDST - PEER HEALTH EDUCATION
GORILLAS IN YOUR MIDST is a nationally affiliated peer health education
group who complete a comprehensive two credit hour course designed
to help them educate peers to make healthy choices. The peer educators
are the backbone of prevention and wellness efforts. They offer
educational, peer theatre and interactive programs on such topics
as: Alcohol and Other Drugs, Date Rape, Sexual Assault, STD’s,
HIV/AIDS, Contraception, Suicide, Smoking Cessation, Eating Disorders,
Diversity, Stress Management and Depression. Phone 620-235-4062
or e-mail gorillasinyourmidst@hotmail.com for more information.
SUBSTANCE ABUSE FOCUS GROUP
Student Prevention and Wellness utilizes the Substance Abuse Focus
Group, which is made up of representatives from University Housing,
Campus Activities, Greek Life and Gorillas In Your Midst to provide
year round prevention, wellness, and healthy choice information
and programming — including Alcohol Awareness Week and Safe
Spring Break Week. The group is also responsible for the administration
of campus alcohol surveys and the “most gorillas … make
healthy choices” social norms media campaign designed to decrease
problem drinking on campus.
COLLABORATIVE PROGRAMMING
Student Prevention and Wellness, Gorillas In Your Midst Peer Health
Education and the Substance Abuse Focus Group work closely with
Campus Activities, GAMMA, the Sexual Assault Safety Awareness Committee,
SafeRide, the World AIDS Day Committee, and the AIDS Resource Network
of Southeast Kansas to plan and support programming such as National
Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week, the Great American Smoke-out,
World AIDS Day, Eating Disorder Awareness Week, Karaoke Night, Safe
Spring Break, Safe Holiday Break and Sexual Responsibility Week.
DON’T CANCEL THAT CLASS!
If a professor cannot make it to a scheduled class for whatever
reason, he or she can contact Student Prevention & Wellness
and ask to have J.T. Knoll facilitate the class and educate students
about substance abuse and stress management instead of canceling.
Please call J.T. Knoll at 235-4062 or e-mail him at jknoll@pittsate.edu
if you need a substitute teacher or guest speaker.
SOCIAL NORMS CAMPAIGN
What is the purpose of social norming?
Social norm theory states that individuals are highly influenced
by what they think their peers are doing or thinking. The theory
also states that students typically overestimate problem behavior,
such as high-risk alcohol consumption, and underestimate healthy
behavior. The theory predicts these misperceptions increase problem
behaviors and decrease healthy behaviors because students are acting
in accordance to what they think is "normal". Social norm
theory predicts that correcting misperceptions of the norm is likely
to result in decreased problem behavior and an increase in healthy
behavior.
Surveys on our campus have shown that our students tend to overestimate
how much and how often other students drink. Prevention and Wellness
is trying to share the accurate picture of student alcohol consumption
at Pitt State, with the expectation that doing so, combined with
good alcohol education and environmental management, will result
in a larger number of students drinking moderately or abstaining,
and a smaller number of students making high risk choices. Posters,
t-shirts, hi-liters, key chains, bookmarks, footballs, cups etc.
with social norming messages depicting the facts about alcohol use
on the PSU campus are distributed free to students throughout the
school year. This strategy, when combined with the promotion of
harm reduction alternatives such as the PSU SafeRide program, has
been successful at a number of colleges and universities across
the country.
For a more detailed discussion of social norms theory and the research
associated with it, visit the Higher Education Center for Alcohol
and Other Drug Issues web site at:
http://www.edc.org/hec/socialnorms/theory.html, The Report on Social
Norms at www.socialnormslink.com, or the National Social Norms Resource
Center at www.socialnorm.org .
Where do the numbers for the campaign come from?
In the spring of 2003, the PSU Substance Abuse Focus Group administered
alcohol surveys to over 700 students. A random sample of classes
was selected and the surveys were administered in the classrooms
with faculty permission. A new survey will be conducted this fall.
Won't the message make students who abstain feel pressured to start
drinking?
Research on this issue has consistently shown that this does not
happen. Rather those who abstain from alcohol report feeling less
pressure to drink more.
I don't believe the message. How can it be true, with all the parties
and problems we hear about?
It's not surprising that many individuals are skeptical about this
message. Virtually everyone has misperceptions about students alcohol
use. The problems associated with alcohol are what are reported
in the news. And when students come back from parties they talk
about the fights, the vomit, the sex, the drunkenness — not
about all the people who are drinking responsibly. Since we notice
what is exciting, or different, or tragic, that's what we focus
on and that's what we talk about. When individuals in conversation
glamorize and generalize high risk drinking (i.e. "everyone
was so wasted at that party last night") then high risk drinking
seems to be the norm. However, when people start to pay attention
to what is really happening at parties, they begin to notice that
it usually is only a small number of individuals who are drinking
the largest amount of alcohol and causing the most problems.
Social norming is not the silver bullet. It should be used as part
of a comprehensive approach to addressing alcohol abuse.
What can faculty and staff do?
All of us need to work together to create an environment that supports
and encourages students to make good decisions about alcohol. Keeping
students accountable, not making jokes about alcohol or condoning
use is imperative. In addition it is important to help students
who may be at risk for alcohol problems to know what resources are
available.
For educational and resource information on student prevention
and wellness topics please call 235-4062 or e-mail jknoll@pittstate.edu
J.T. Knoll, Coordinator
Student Prevention & Wellness
Advisor, Gorillas In Your Midst – Peer Health Education
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