A creative drama prevention program for easing early adolescents' adjustment to school transitions.

Described is a drama prevention program in a rural Grade 6-8 junior high school, designed to facilitate incoming students' transition to their new school environment by developing social skills. Extensive pilot work with a social skills curriculum based on creative drama in small groups suggested that it could be successful in strengthening peer relations. A subsequent intervention demonstrated positive findings according to student and teacher interviews, student and parent satisfaction measures, and comparison data from teacher and parent ratings. School staff implemented the curriculum independently in following years but with some modifications. The results indicate that creative drama groups have some usefulness for individual-centered primary prevention.