Choices for Life: Scott's Story

Scott’s Story is the third instalment of the ‘Choices for Life’ series. These videos are of a very high production quality and feature a young cast who are believable, relatable, and likeable. Each video follows the story of a particular teenager and their experiences as they encounter drug/alcohol use. Despite covering many potential consequences of drug use, the videos avoid being preachy or unbelievable. While the depicted consequences are serious, they are not sensationalised. The central messages follow a social influence approach, which is an effective and well-supported model for drug prevention with young people. The context, messages and drug-related consequences are suitable for and relevant to the target age group. Teachers should note the actors speak with Scottish accents, so for some students the content may be challenging to understand.

Scott’s Story focuses on marijuana use and its associated social, academic, and mental health consequences. The storyline explores possible reasons behind adolescent drug use and a range of repercussions including paranoia, loss of motivation, and reduced attention. Scott also runs into problems with his bandmates and girlfriend as a result of his cannabis use. Taken together, this is an excellent resource which maps onto the Alcohol and other Drugs (AD) components found in the Australian Health and Physical Education curriculum for Year 9–10.

* Review provided by researchers at the Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use at the University of Sydney.