The goal of this exercise is to discover the questions your students have about drugs and their effects and direct them to a resource with accurate answers.

1. Start this exercise by reviewing proper letter-writing procedures.
2. Assign students to write a short letter asking for advice to an advice column (i.e. Dear Prevlink) about a real or possible situation they may find themselves in that involves alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs. Have them sign the letters with a fake name. Collect the letters and mix them up on a table.
3. Assign your students to select a letter to respond to in the proper letter-writing format. The response letters can be graded based on the quality of writing, advice given, and proper formatting. Students may want to look up information on the Prevlink site to help them in writing their responses so they are factual, rather than just opinion or hearsay.
4. Lead a discussion of the best approaches students took to respond to the drug-related problems of peers. Share the ideas in the response letters that you feel were the best, as well as those that could result in more problems without pointing out their writers.