CHANGING OF STUDENTS\' VIEWS TOWARD ADDICTION BY SELF -INTRODUCED DRUG ABUSERS AND THEIR FAMILIES

A group of high school students attended 7 educational sessions for a preventive drug abuse program. The students were exposed to drug abusers and their families. Drug abusers and their families informed the subjects about the consequences of addiction in their life: how they became addicted and how the addiction worsened their psychosocial life. Moreover their families explained to students the miserable situation of their family after addiction of one of the family members. Each session took about 70 minutes and the students were allowed to ask questions concerning addiction from drug abusers and their families. The results of pre-test and post-test of students' views toward addiction showed significant differences between the students' views before and after attending the sessions, and their views became more negative than before attending the sessions. The results were interpreted through social comparison (downward)I theory and the Iranian proverb once again prevailed: If you would like to learn morality, you should learn it from people who don't behave on morality.