The curriculum is intended for use in a variety of educational settings, including public and private schools, residential schools, structured psycho-educational groups, and alternative school programs. Some of the ideas, concepts, and activities presented in the curriculum are a result of earlier work with the Adolescent Issues Project at the Judge Baker Children's Center in Boston. The goal of that project was to improve adolescents' ability to assess situations and, as a result, make more responsible personal and interpersonal decisions. For each of the 25 lessons, a cover sheet lists the title of the lesson and its goals. It also lists all the activities in the lesson in order of their use. The "materials" list helps the facilitator prepare for each lesson by highlighting materials not included as part of the manual. The "Activities" section of each lesson presents the lesson plan. It describes in detail suggestions for each activity and is to be used, adapted, and modified by the group facilitator. Worksheets and homework assignment sheets are for use by the students. A homework assignment is described at the end of each lesson. The general format for each lesson is information designed to increase knowledge, an activity that will heighten student awareness, and a decisionmaking activity that will often use a five-step model for making decisions.