Parent Alert November 2024

By rbean | May 28, 2025 |

Focus on the Positives: Using Social Norms in Prevention

All of us are strongly influenced by group norms, and that is especially true for adolescents. Young people are strongly influenced by the behaviors and attitudes they perceive their peers to have. This works well when it comes to youth learning how to interact with and behave around others, but it can have negative outcomes when their perceptions do not match reality. A great example of this is youth perception of peer substance use.

Youth tend to overestimate how many of their peers are using substances. There are a few factors that play into these perceptions, but two of the prominent ones include entertainment and marketing. Most media shows teens as being rebellious kids who smoke, drink, and party all day. This is not an accurate representation of youth culture, but this portrayal can be found in real life with news coverage and well-intentioned commercials focused on teens making unhealthy choices. Both of these sources tell youth that their peers are using substances which youth then take to mean that everyone is using substances. Data shows that that is not true, but this misperception has a stronger influence on youth than data does. One way to change how youth perceive group norms is to accurately represent group norms.

The social norms approach to prevention highlights the actual norms while dispelling myths that come from perceived norms. Prevention education and marketing used to focus on the behavior itself. For example, “10% of teens drink alcohol.” This is just sharing a piece of data to bring awareness to an issue; however, the focus on the negative can cause people to miss the positive and create a norm in their minds that does not exist. The social norms approach to this statement would be, “90% of teens do not drink alcohol.” These messages share the same information, but the focus of each message gives the reader a different takeaway. The first message reinforces the perception teens have that their peers are drinking, and the second message tells teens that most of their peers are not drinking. Promoting the positive social norm that most teens do not drink reduces the amount of teens drinking because teens want to be part of the majority.

Focusing on positive social norms is becoming the main tactic used in prevention. Changing the narrative to show that most people are making healthy choices, especially when talking to students, can help reduce the amount of people willing to try substances. Check out the links below for some examples on what a social norms campaign can look like.

Resources

The Importance of Social Norms in Substance Use Prevention

The Social Norms Approach to Tackling Substance Misuse

Social Norms Message Creation Guide

November 2024 Awareness

Wayne County Coalitions strives to observe the many different awareness events throughout the year that focus on mental health, substance use prevention, and other important topics. Please visit the links below for information and resources.

National Native American Heritage Month: This month gives us the opportunity to celebrate the traditions, languages, and stories of Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and affiliated island communities.

National Veterans and Military Families Month: November is dedicated to honoring and celebrating military veterans and their families. Veterans Day was on November 11th as well, so please take a moment to thank a veteran in your life.

Resources

National Native American Heritage Month

CDC – About Healthy Tribes

NIH Launches Program to Advance Research Led by Native American Communities on Substance Use and Pain

White House Releases First-of-a-Kind Indigenous Knowledge Guidance for Federal Agencies

The White House – A Proclamation on National Veterans and Military Families Month 2024

Military OneSource – National Veterans and Military Families Month

Military.com – Veterans Day 2024

Resources

Voting for Kids 101: Teaching Kids the Importance of Voting & Elections

31 Thanksgiving Activities for the Entire Family

30+ Super Cute Thanksgiving Recipes for Kids

Wayne County Public Library Calendar

Thank you for being a vital part of our community!

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