Projects: Let's Talk About It

Let's Talk About It is an activity designed to provoke discussion and self-awareness about drinking-related behaviors and perceptions among college students. It is an interactive simulation/game that encourages discussion of alcohol-related choices and behaviors among students and their peers. This manual describes the simulation and provides instructions for its use. Step-by-step guides for setting up the simulation and a detailed debriefing guide are also included so that facilitators will be able to talk with students about their experiences and how these experiences apply to their everyday lives. In addition, a CD-ROM with Powerpoint slides containing game scenarios is included.

It is the latest simulation/game in a continually updated series that highlights alcohol-related issues facing students on college campuses. It follows the RU SURE Game of Choices and Consequences (Lederman, Stewart, Laitman, Goodhart, & Powell, 2002), which was based on earlier research on alcohol use conducted at Rutgers University. The RU SURE Game was an extension of Imagine That! (Lederman, 1992), the first simulation/game developed at Rutgers to engage students in thinking about their drinking. All three simulation/games focus on typical alcohol-related decisions faced by college students and the potential for dangerous consequences related to those decisions.

Let's Talk About It has been updated to not only reflect contemporary choices facing college students but to extend previous games by including fact-based information and incorporating individual response technology. While in many ways the alcohol-related scenarios and choices presented in the simulation have not changed over the years since the original design, we have recognized the influence of widely held myths and misperceptions about drinking on students' drinking-related decisions and have included fact-based information to increase students' knowledge and to counter this misinformation.