The Project Charlie drug abuse prevention curriculum is written for elementary-age children. Each year, members of the police department volunteer their time to teach this program to 2nd grade students at the Danville Elementary School. The outcomes of this curriculum are supported by research findings that indicate the "life skills" approach is effective in deterring adolescent alcohol, tobacco and other drug use. This approach to prevention is based on the assumption that learning to resist the interpersonal phenomenon of peer pressure will decrease the individual’s susceptibility to drug use. In addition, it recognizes that internal pressure resulting from inability to cope with problems and negative feelings can often compel young people to turn to drug use. The necessary life skills for resisting these pressures included in Project Charlie are; assertiveness, the ability to resist peer pressure, decision-making and problem-solving skills, the ability to say no, and the judicious selection of friends. In addition, students are taught about normative behavior and are given both short-term effects and long-term consequences to drug use.