The goal of the Botvins LifeSkills program is to prevent gateway substance use by providing students with knowledge and skills to resist peer and media pressure to smoke, drink or use drugs. Botvins LifeSkills addresses the following Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) risk factors:

• Individual attitudes towards substance use
• Perceived risk of substance use
• Early initiation of problem behavior

Botvins LifeSkills is an evidence-based in-school substance abuse prevention and violence prevention program for middle or junior high school students ages 11 to 14 years old. It provides students with the necessary skills to resist social pressure to smoke, drink and use drugs, helps them develop greater self-esteem, enables them to cope with anxiety, increases their knowledge of the immediate consequences of substance abuse, and enhances their cognitive and behavioral competency to reduce and prevent a variety of health risk behaviors.