Released on: October 2, 2008, 6:54 am

Press Release Author: Botvin LifeSkills Training

Industry: Education

Press Release Summary: Fewer Alabama teens are smoking, according to the results of
the 2008 Youth Tobacco Survey. Making significant progress to address adolescent
tobacco use, Alabama schools implemented the Botvin LifeSkills Training program in
selected schools across the state.

Press Release Body: White Plains, NY— Fewer Alabama teens are smoking, according to
the results of the 2008 Youth Tobacco Survey. The survey, conducted by the Alabama
Department of Public Health’s Tobacco Prevention Branch shows a 17.5% decrease in
high school students who smoke in 2008 from those in 2006.

Making significant progress to address adolescent tobacco use, Alabama schools
implemented the Botvin LifeSkills Training program in selected schools across the
state. “This program has been proven to reduce the risks of alcohol, tobacco, drug
abuse and violence by targeting major social and psychological factors that promote
these behaviors,” said Dr. Donald Williamson, Alabama’s state health officer.

In addition to reducing the risk of tobacco use, Botvin LifeSkills Training promotes
healthy alternatives to risky behavior through activities designed to teach students
how to resist peer pressures, develop greater self-esteem and cope with anxiety.
Throughout the program, students learn a series of skills such as decision making,
assertiveness and effective communication to help them make healthy choices and
avoid risks.

"School-based prevention programs for tobacco, alcohol and other drugs have an
impressive track record of reducing substance use among youth," said Dr. Gilbert J.
Botvin, an internationally known expert on drug abuse prevention. Dr. Botvin is a
professor of public health and psychiatry at Cornell University's Weill Medical
College, director of Cornell's Institute for Prevention Research, and president of
National Health Promotion Associates.

Botvin LifeSkills Training is an evidence-based substance abuse and violence
prevention approach with more than 25 years of peer-reviewed research behind it. The
program has been cited for excellence by numerous organizations, including the U.S.
Department of Education, the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, the National
Institute on Drug Abuse, and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Studies testing its effectiveness have found
that LifeSkills Training can reduce the prevalence of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit
drug use by as much as 87 percent.

For additional information, contact Paulina Kalaj at 914-220-9431 or visit
www.lifeskillstraining.com.


Web Site: http://lifeskillstraining.com

Contact Details: Botvin LifeSkills Training
711 Westchester Avenue
White Plains, NY 10604
800-293-4969
lstinfo@nhpamail.com