Evaluation of PY/PM has shown that students receiving the lessons:

• Improve their vehicle safety skills
• Improve decision making and stress management skills
• Increase their knowledge of the brain
• Increase their perceived harmfulness of underage alcohol use

PY/PM: Evaluation Results Details

Adult-Led PY/PM Evaluation:

A five-year study was conducted to evaluate the effect of the PY/PM lessons on students when taught by classroom teachers. Classroom teachers in Grades 1-5 in four schools in Texas and Montana taught PY/PM. Each PY/PM school was matched with a nearby comparison school based on the students' demographics and the size of the school. Students in all eight schools took surveys before the lessons were started (pre-tests) and again after they were completed (post-tests). The analysis focused on fifth grade students, some of whom received the full five years of PY/PM, and found statistically significant differences between students who received PY/PM and the comparison students who received no lessons.

Students receiving PY/PM, relative to the comparison students, were found to have:

• Increased their knowledge of the effects of alcohol on the developing brain
• Increased their perceptions of the potential harm of alcohol use (i.e. how much people under 21 harm themselves if they drink beer, wine, liquor, or flavored alcoholic beverages.)
• Improved their vehicle safety skills (i.e. how to protect themselves if they have no choice but to ride with a driver who has been drinking).
• Increased their negative attitudes toward underage drinking (i.e. do not think it is okay for people under the age of 21 to drink alcohol)
• Increased their intentions not to use alcohol in the future, and
• Reported decreased riding with an impaired driver.

Note: Average post-test scores. Scores ranged from 1 to 4 with 4 being the desired answer.

More resources:

• Evaluation studies on the adult-led implementation model of PY/PM
• Youth-led PY/PM overview