Building Healthy Choices

Overview

In this lesson, students explore how addiction can develop around alcohol, smoking/nicotine and food, and they consider the wider effects on families and friends. The focus is on recognising risks, understanding dependency, and knowing where to seek help.

Learning intentions

Students will:

• understand what “dependence” and “addiction” can look like in everyday life
• identify physical and psychological harms linked to alcohol, smoking/nicotine and unhealthy food use
• explain how problem-use can affect other people, including family and friends
• practise help-seeking language and actions for themselves or others

Success criteria

Students can:

• describe at least two risks of alcohol consumption and problem-use
• explain why smoking/nicotine and quitting support matter for health
• give examples of how someone’s behaviour may change when dependent
• identify at least one trusted person and one support pathway to talk to if they are worried

Curriculum links

• Drugs, alcohol, tobacco and vaping: physical and psychological consequences of problem-use of alcohol
• Drugs, alcohol, tobacco and vaping: facts about risks and harms linked to illegal drugs and illicit vapes (used here to support broader “risky substances” thinking)
• Drugs, alcohol, tobacco and vaping: physical and psychological risks associated with alcohol consumption
• Drugs, alcohol, tobacco and vaping: multiple serious harms from smoking tobacco, benefits of quitting, and how to access support

Lesson structure (40 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Hook (anonymous agree/disagree). Teacher displays four statements: “People can become dependent even if they started ‘just to try’”, “Addiction affects only the person”, “Quitting is possible and support exists”, “Family and friends are often affected too”. Students respond on paper with Agree/Disagree and one word to justify their first thought.

2. 5–12 min · Direct teach (key ideas, age-appropriate). Teacher explains:

• Addiction/dependence as a pattern where a person feels they “can’t stop” or needs more to get the same effect
• Alcohol: physical impacts and psychological effects; dependency can develop
• Smoking/nicotine: serious harms (linked to lung cancer and cardiovascular disease) and the idea that support helps quitting
• Food: dependence can involve habits that feel compulsive (not about weight, but about control and emotional coping) Students complete a “Myth or Fact” quick check on three statements chosen by the teacher.

3. 12–20 min · Group investigation: “Who is affected?” (alcohol, smoking/nicotine, food). Teacher divides class into three mixed groups and assigns one theme per group: alcohol, smoking/nicotine, food habits. Students use a structured prompt sheet with three columns: “What might the person do?”, “How could this affect their health/mind?”, “How could it affect family and friends?” Teacher circulates and prompts students to include at least one effect on others (e.g., worry, arguments, financial strain, caring responsibilities, feeling unsafe).

4. 20–28 min · Case study and discussion (impact on others). Teacher reads a short scenario (adapt to your setting) where a young person increasingly relies on one of: alcohol, smoking/vaping/nicotine, or very high-sugar/comfort eating to cope with stress. Students work in pairs to answer:

• “What warning signs could friends notice?”
• “What might family notice at home?”
• “What is a kind and safe thing a friend could do?” Teacher takes responses and records “kind actions” and “unsafe responses” on the board.

5. 28–36 min · Skills: help-seeking role-play (for self or others). Teacher models two short scripts (without naming specific helplines):

• “I’m worried about myself and I don’t know how to stop”
• “I’m worried about a friend/family member. What should we do next?” Students rotate through a role-play in small groups of three: one person is worried, one is the listener, one is the “support finder” who identifies a trusted adult (parent/carer, tutor, school nurse, safeguarding lead, GP). Teacher gives sentence starters: “I noticed…”, “I’m worried because…”, “Can we talk to…?”, “You’re not alone.”

6. 36–40 min · Exit ticket (check understanding). Students answer two questions:

• “Give one health or psychological risk linked to alcohol OR smoking/nicotine OR problem food habits.”
• “List one way you could help a friend/family member—safely.”

Resources

• Statement cards for agree/disagree activity
• “Myth or Fact” mini-quiz sheet
• Prompt sheet with “What might the person do? / Health-mind impact / Impact on others”
• Three short case-study scenarios (print or read aloud)
• Role-play script cards and sentence starters
• Exit ticket slips
• Board/markers/whiteboard

Assessment

• Formative check: myth/fact responses at 5–12 minutes
• Teacher observation: group prompt sheets for accuracy about harms and effects on others
• Exit ticket review to identify misconceptions (e.g., “only affects the person”)

Differentiation

• Provide sentence starters and word banks (“dependence”, “worry”, “support”, “safe”, “trusted adult”) for students needing support
• Offer an “example-first” support: students can copy a model before adding their own ideas
• Extension: ask students to suggest two reasons why help-seeking can be difficult (e.g., fear of judgement) and propose one strategy to overcome it
• For SEN/EAL: allow visual responses (icons for emotions and “people affected”) and reduce writing load by focusing on key phrases

Next steps (teacher follow-up)

• Use exit ticket themes to plan the next PSHE session on coping strategies for stress and building healthy routines that reduce risk.