Provide opportunities in a variety of context-specific ways for students to model and practice social skills that are important for implementing healthy and safe decisions. These include interpersonal communication, goal setting, anger management, and advocacy skills.

One characteristic of curricula found effective for influencing behaviors is the provision of opportunities for students to model and practice social skills. The National Health Education Standards (22) include interpersonal communication, goal-setting, decision-making, and advocacy skills, among several overall standards, that students should achieve through health and safety education. A few skills such as negotiation, refusal, goal-setting, stress management, and effective communication can help students engage in health enhancing behaviors and avoid unsafe behaviors. Students need to practice the same or similar skills in a variety of contexts so that they gain proficiency and the ability to apply them in new situations. The same social skills can lead to a reduction in violence, drug abuse, unsafe sexual activity, and other risk behaviors. Effective curricula include not only skills development, but also functional knowledge (Guideline 2-06) and analysis of social in Guideline 2-08).

Practice with social skills helps students develop these skills and gain the self-confidence needed to use the skills in appropriate situations. Social learning theory identifies self-efficacy, or the belief that one can use a skill and that using it will make a difference, as a key element in adopting new behaviors. Repeated use of the same skill in different contexts increases the chance that students who learn a skill for one situation, such as refusing an offer to try a drug, will transfer the skill to another situation, such as refusing to engage in theft or sexual activity.

Examples of context-specific skills include:

• refusal skills for tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs;
• goal-setting, negotiation skills, and refusal skills for interpersonal relationships;
• problem-solving, anger management, and coping skills for stressful situations such as bullying and interpersonal conflict;
• goal setting for maintaining and achieving an appropriate weight through healthy food intake and exercise;
• negotiation skills with families on changing roles and responsibilities within the family as a result of maturation;
• negotiation and conflict resolution skills in situations with a potential for violence;
• problem-solving skills regarding risk-taking behaviors on the basis of likelihood for injury; and
• developing healthy, interpersonal relationship skills.

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