Project LEAD lessons provide many opportunities for students to develop problem-solving skills, perspective and reasoning. The lesson on refusal skills is critical and takes place more than halfway through the curriculum so that students have already practiced certain critical-thinking skills, and more importantly, reached a comfort level with the facilitators.
Studies in substance abuse prevention have demonstrated that young people are better equipped to cope with peer pressure when they have learned and practiced refusal skills rather than having been taught to just say no. Youths are more susceptible to caring more about what others think about them than considering the consequences of negative behaviors. Refusal skills are comprised of responses students can use in typical peer pressure situations, giving them a way out of becoming involved in risky or illegal activities while keeping what they perceive as dignity.