An interactive mobile classroom outfits students with ‘Marijuana goggles’ and tri-cycles as it sends them through a defined course to simulate different levels of visually impaired driving. They also wear the googles to test how marijuana affects their abilities.
Last year, the Appalachia High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area and the Kentucky Army National Guard provided 18,754 students at 182 schools in 37 counties in Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia with this interactive drug education and prevention program.
The non-profit Operation Unlawful Narcotics Investigations, Treatment and Education (UNITE) “On The Move!” program is made up of five components designed for 7th and 10th grade students.
Students are surveyed before the program, and then throughout using a system which provides immediate feedback to students and a summary of the students’ perceptions to schools following the program.
After entering the cozy, kid-friendly mobile classroom, students begin learning about drugs and their effects.
In addition to the tri-cycle course, students also get in a battery-powered go-kart operated by program staff to get a taste of what an impaired driving experience is like.
They also wear the ‘Marijuana goggles’ by Fatal Vision to test reactions in cognitive and other tests.
Small group discussions address making decisions and how good choices outweigh the consequences of bad choices.
