Cannabis and You – Conflicts, Resolutions, and Well-being

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Resource
Cannabis Education Resources
Grade(s)
10

Overview

  • Students use a Graphic Organizer such as a RAN Chart for Inquiry to gather information about the impacts of using substances, such as cannabis, on a person’s overall well-being.
  • Students use scenarios to explore and demonstrate their understanding of the potential impact that using cannabis might have on a person’s health and well-being and to apply strategies and skills for conflict resolution in order to resolve conflicts arising from situations involving substance use.
  • Students complete an Exit Card to demonstrate their learning and reflect on their ideas about youth cannabis use.
  • This activity may be used as part of a unit of learning or at the end of a unit of learning. It may also be used as a lead-in to the Grade 10 Cannabis Education activity “Voice Your Position about Cannabis in Your Community.”

Curriculum Expectations

1.1, 1.2, 1.5, C1.2, C2.3, C2.4

Materials Needed

  • Information on the effects of cannabis on an individual’s health and well-being, such as:
    • The Blunt Truth (fact sheet, available via Centre for Addiction and Mental Health’s website)
    • Don’t Drive High (online resources, available via Government of Canada’s website)
  • RAN Chart for Inquiry
  • Sample scenarios that depict youth characters involved in a conflict involving cannabis use
  • Think-Pair-Share Graphic Organizer or another graphic organizer appropriate to the activity
  • Exit Cards

Learning Goals

  • We are learning about the impact of cannabis use on a person’s health and well-being.
  • We are learning to apply adaptive, coping, and personal management skills to respond to challenging situations involving cannabis.
  • We are learning to analyze situations that create personal conflict or conflict with others and to apply strategies for conflict resolution.

Sample Success Criteria

  • I can describe how using cannabis can impact a person physically, emotionally, cognitively, spiritually, socially, and economically.
  • I can use skills such as refusal, assertiveness, persuasiveness, problem solving, and stress management skills to respond to challenging situations.
  • I can analyze situations that create conflict within me or between myself and others and apply strategies to resolve the conflict.

Opportunities For Assessment

  • During the Minds On, use the RAN Charts to assess students’ understanding of how cannabis can impact a person physically, emotionally, cognitively, spiritually, socially, and economically.
  • During the Action, use the group Think, Pair, Share Graphic Organizers to assess students’ analysis of the scenarios in relation to the Learning Goals and Success Criteria.
  • During the Consolidation, use the group role-play to assess students’ understanding of the potential impacts of cannabis use on a person’s health and well-being and their ability to analyze conflict and apply strategies and skills for conflict resolution.
  • During the Consolidation, use Exit Cards to assess students’ understanding in relation to the Learning Goals and Success Criteria.

Minds-On

  • Share the Learning Goals with students and co-create Success Criteria.
  • Post the following questions around the room for students to reflect on what they know about conflict, the types of conflict they might face, and strategies they might use to resolve the conflict:
  1. What is the difference between conflict and violence?
  2. What types of situations create conflict between youth and their peers, parents/guardians, or co-workers?
  3. What types of situations create the most conflict between friends?
  4. What are some negative ways people choose to deal with conflict, and what is the typical outcome of this type of choice?
  5. What are some positive ways to deal with conflict?
  • Provide students with a Think, Pair, Share Graphic Organizer (or other appropriate graphic organizer) to record their thinking. Have students think individually about each question, record their thinking, and then share with a partner.
  • At the end of the Think, Pair, Share activity, explain to students that it is important to consider conflicts that arise from peer pressure and how to respond to challenging situations, particularly those involving substance use.

Action

  • Have students work in small groups to answer the following question: How might using cannabis impact a person physically, emotionally, cognitively, spiritually, socially, and economically?
  • Provide each group with a RAN Chart for Inquiry and have groups complete the first two columns of the chart related to the assigned question before they begin their inquiry. Instruct students to consider what they know and what they wonder about how cannabis impacts each element of a person’s well-being.
  • Provide each group with information on the effects of cannabis on an individual’s health and well-being, such as CAMH's “The Blunt Truth” resource.
  • Have groups complete the rest of their RAN Chart for Inquiry and share the information gathered with the class.
  • After all groups share their information, have the class determine any information that may be missing to fully answer the question.
  • Provide students with any information that is missing, or provide additional time for groups to find the information they need/wish to add to their RAN Chart for Inquiry.
  • Provide groups with a variety of scenarios that depict youth characters involved in a conflict involving cannabis use (e.g., peer pressure, legal issues, risk-taking behaviours). Examples:
    • You have never smoked cannabis but a lot of your friends do. You are spending the night at one friend’s place, and all of your other friends will be there. They have already been talking about “smoking up” but you are not interested.
    • As a new driver, you get really anxious when behind the wheel because you are afraid of making a mistake. You’ve tried cannabis in the past and appreciate how it makes you feel less anxious. You are considering using it to help you be less anxious when you are driving.
    • March Break has arrived and you are looking forward to a little down time with your family as you get ready for a trip south. As you are packing for the trip, you remember that you have a couple of joints left over from the party last weekend and decide to pack it in your suitcase. Your parents are cool about cannabis and you don’t feel it’s important to let them know.
  • Assign different scenarios to each group and provide each group with a chart or other graphic organizer with the following headings:
    • Type of Conflict
    • Potential Impacts of Using Cannabis
    • Effective Conflict Resolution Strategies and Skills
  • Using their graphic organizer to record their thinking, have groups analyze their assigned scenario and do the following:
    • Identify the conflict (e.g., a moral or ethical struggle, a potential argument or fight with friends or family, a potential legal consequence)
    • Determine how the character’s overall health and well-being might be impacted if the character chooses to use cannabis (e.g., physically, emotionally, cognitively, spiritually, socially, and economically)
    • Generate strategies (e.g., get counselling, talk to a trusted friend or adult, be prepared to de-escalate the conflict by using calming words to state their positions, walk away from the situation, present an alternative to using cannabis)
    • Identify skills that the character might use to resolve the conflict (e.g., refusal, assertiveness, persuasiveness, problem solving and stress management skills)
  • Have groups present their analysis of their scenario to another group or to the rest of the class.
  • Facilitate a group discussion to support students in solidifying their understanding of the impact of cannabis use on a person’s health and well-being, of their ability to analyze conflict, and of strategies and skills that can be applied to resolve challenging situations involving cannabis.

Consolidation

  • Have each group generate one additional scenario that is relevant to youth and cannabis use and share their scenario with the class.
  • Have groups choose one of the additional scenarios. Have group members adopt the role of friends to the character in the scenario to help their friend identify the type of conflict, understand the potential impacts to their health and well-being if they choose to use cannabis, and provide them with advice about strategies and skills they can use to resolve the conflict.
  • Have groups role-play their scenario for the class either live or recorded.
  • Have students individually complete an Exit Card to consolidate their understanding of the impact of cannabis use on a person’s health and well-being and strategies and skills they might use to respond to conflict involving cannabis.

Ideas For Extension

  • Complete the first two columns of the RAN Chart for Inquiry as a whole class to model the process before groups complete their research on the impact of cannabis use on a person’s health and well-being.
  • Consider using sticky notes when modeling the process of using the RAN Chart for Inquiry to record students’ thoughts on the chart and provide an opportunity to easily move the ideas between the columns in order to help students identify their ongoing misconceptions as well as new information to explore related to cannabis use.
  • Have each group work on the same scenario and contribute to a class Graphic Organizer to model how to analyze a scenario before having groups complete their own analysis of their assigned scenario.
  • Use a 3-2-1 Strategy (3 Facts You Learned, 2 Questions You Still Have, 1 Opinion You Have) for the Exit Card to allow students to demonstrate their learning and opinions about youth cannabis use.

Notes To Teachers

Providing opportunities for students to explore concepts from multiple perspectives and through a variety of lenses enriches their learning.

  • Explore cross-curricular opportunities, such as students reading literature related to youth struggling with situations involving cannabis as part of their English and Civics courses.
  • Encourage students to develop critical thinking and inquiry skills for information related to cannabis use, including questioning, predicting, analyzing, synthesizing, examining opinions, identifying values and issues, detecting bias, and exploring alternatives to help guide effective decision making about the use of cannabis and other drugs.