ABSTRACT
When social problems capture public imagination, public schools often become the vehicle for social change (Sarason, 1982). With the focus of public attention, efforts are made by politicians to “do something” to solve the problem. The “something” often results in 5 a mandate to public schools. Directly tied to and intricately connected with state and federal government through funding, schools are readily available settings for delivery of the mandated solution. In the last decade, public schools have increasingly been held ac-10 countable to teach young people about the dangers of drugs, alcohol and tobacco, AIDS, gangs, and violence. Each of these issues now claims time in the curriculum delivered to students alongside a basic program of academic study. Beginning in the 1980s, “Just Say No!” 15 became the slogan for an ongoing social change effort known as the War on Drugs, aimed at the target of a drug-, alcohol-, and tobacco-free society.
