What is SADD?

Founded as Students Against Driving Drunk in 1981, SADD has grown to become the nation’s dominant peer-to-peer youth prevention organization with thousands of chapters in middle schools, high schools and colleges. In 1997, in response to requests from SADD students themselves, SADD expanded its mission and name, and now sponsors chapters called Students Against Destructive Decisions.

What does SADD do?
SADD’s unique approach involves young people delivering education and prevention messages to their peers through school- and community-wide activities and campaigns responsive to the needs of their particular locations. Projects may include peer-led classes and theme-focused forums, teen workshops, conferences and rallies, prevention education and leadership training, and awareness-raising activities and legislative work.

How is the work of SADD chapters important?
SADD believes in the power of young people and their ability to make sound, intelligent decisions. SADD empowers students to act on their convictions. SADD puts the responsibility for making safe, informed choices on teens themselves rather than telling them what to do or what not to do. SADD encourages teens to consider the impact of their choices on their friends, their families and their future.

How is SADD unique?
SADD’s unique approach involves young people in informing, supporting and assisting their peers to have the best tools to make healthy decisions. Through its expansive network of chapters across the country, SADD can deliver information and messages to hundreds of thousands of teenagers.

SADD relies on scientifically grounded prevention principles. As a youth prevention program that begins and evolves from local level efforts, SADD is:

• age appropriate
• culturally appropriate
• long-term, continuing throughout the school career
• cost effective

In addition, SADD promotes programming that includes:

• targeting all forms of drug use
• skills to resist drug offers
• social competency skills
• normative education designed to correct students’ misperceptions about
  their peers’ drug use
• a parent component
• outreach to all populations including children with behavior problems or
  learning disabilities
• interactive methods, such as peer discussion groups
• media campaigns and lobbying for policy changes