‘I Can’t, I’ve Got Prevention’

The ‘I Can’t, I’ve Got Prevention’ program has 3 aims:
To offer social settings where drug and alcohol consumption is not what brings people together.
To enable people in target groups to take stock of their own substance use practices, reconsider them, and make a transition to different, safer behavior, without feeling as though they are missing out.

And ultimately, it goes without saying, to see a drop in drug and alcohol use at each of the three institutions.

The common thread for each institution will consist of offering meaningful alternative activities that foster overall health and wellbeing.
Driven by a profound commitment to prevention, the three institutions have joined forces to collectively launch the ‘I Can’t, I’ve Got Prevention’ program, which aims to create the right conditions for the emergence of a ‘protective environment’ conducive to substance abuse prevention and fostering a feeling of overall wellbeing, be it at work, in the classroom, or in any number of social settings both on and off campus.
The goal is to help people avoid behavior that is harmful to their health and guide them instead towards healthier alternatives based on the same motivation that drives them to consume drugs and alcohol: socialization, stress reduction, performance enhancement, etc.

Each year, anonymous flash surveys will be used to identify, measure, and assess student and staff drug and alcohol consumption habits and the underlying reasons that drive them to substance use. The findings of these surveys will make it possible, throughout the three years of the program, to create tailored substance-use prevention measures that encourage activities promoting health and wellbeing, with an emphasis on fun and engaging events such as ‘I can’t, I’ve got cooking,’ ‘I can’t, I’ve got sport,’ and ‘I can’t, I’ve got sophrology, yoga, meditation,’ etc.

On the student side of things, this project is supported by CentraleSupélec’s Association Pascal, a student group focusing on preventing health risks for students, and the BDEs (Student Associations) of each partner institution. For staff, the program relies on the network of prevention officers, school health and wellbeing representatives, and psychologists.

On a more general level, the issues at stake pertain to public health and risk reduction, including the risk of health problems such as addiction, depression, various physiological conditions, falls, etc., as well as risks relating to violence of all kinds, including sexist and sexual violence.

Drug and Alcohol Consumption: A Broader Societal Phenomenon

The variety of substances used has continued to grow, with some of the chief concerns being alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, poppers, and nitrous oxide. Their consumption among young people remains a source of alarm. On average, 18-25-year-olds drink between 4 and 5 glasses on a given night over 90 to 110 days per year (Baromètre Santé Publique France 2021). This phenomenon is very prevalent at grandes écoles, and is characterized by students engaging in specific binge-drinking behavior (drinking large amounts of alcohol in a single sitting over a short period of time, with the specific aim of getting drunk).
As for tobacco, the MILDECA task force found that a quarter of 17-year-olds are daily smokers, and young people aged 18–35 are the most affected by tobacco use.
High-risk substance use at grandes écoles is not limited to students, though, with the two most prevalent addictive substances consumed at work being alcohol and tobacco: 27% of men and 23% of women are smokers, and their tobacco consumption is on the rise, while 19.8% of men and 8% of women engage in dangerous drinking practices. Eleven percent of adults aged 18–64 are also regular cannabis users.