Contribuições epistemológicas para programas de prevenção do uso problemático de álcool na adolescência

Abstract

Problematic use of alcohol is associated with multiple health risk factors and generates significant costs for society. The early initiation of alcohol consumption is especially worrying since the adolescent brain is in an acute process of development and the interference of ethanol in neuronal pathways can compromise several of the central nervous system's capacities in the long term. School-based prevention programs currently applied in Brazilian education are marked by an ephemerous approach and institutional distancing in a way that difficult a gradation process on knowledge-making. From the elaboration and offering of educational resources that yield a continuous exposition of the theme in schools, this project aims to concede more importance to the problematic use of alcohol in the public discussion, sensitizing students from basic education about genetic, cultural, physiological, and psychosocial motivators that positively reinforces current social patterns of consumption. Through an interdisciplinary and multimedia approach, based on school curricula and literature reviews, the result is the development of specific and updated courseware that could enhance educators in the making of an inclusive, critical, and uplifting discussion about harm reduction and the prevention of problematic use of alcohol to be applied in classrooms and beyond.