Prevention of Fetal Alcohol Damage in Northern Native Communities: A Practical School-based Approach
Date Created
2010
Abstract
This article describes a Fetal Alcohol Syndrome prevention program, "FASD in Lab Mice," that had a dramatic effect in increasing Alaska Native students' understanding of the lifelong neurological and physical damage caused by drinking during pregnancy and, more importantly, led them to engage in active prevention efforts in their own and other Native communities. Informational programs typically used in the schools create little student interest and students often do not see connections between their own experience and the atypically extreme examples such prevention programs tend to emphasize. The "FASD in Lab Mice" prevention program, using actual experiments conducted by the students themselves, provides compelling evidence regarding the pervasive effects of alcohol on the developing fetus. The program received strong support from Native communities and incorporated community values of reverence for animal life with the use of animals for practical human purposes. Long-term quantitative as well as qualitative research on the effectiveness of this program model is needed.
Publication Title
Northern Review
Document Type
Article
ISSN
0835-3433
Volume
32
First Page
35
Last Page
61
Keywords
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome prevention; FASB in Lab MIce; Alaska native communities
Place of Publication
Canada
Rights Statement
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License - see http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Extent
27 pages
Digital Origin
Born digital
Language
English
Publisher
Yukon College
Recommended Citation
Jacquier, Steven; Kleinfeld, Judith; and Gilliam, David, "Prevention of Fetal Alcohol Damage in Northern Native Communities: A Practical School-based Approach" (2010). SPS Faculty Publications. 6.
https://digscholarship.unco.edu/spsfacpub/6