Understanding the ‘why’ behind our choices
“Who thought about their brain today?”
It was a simple question from Tanya Cavanagh, but one that opened a much bigger conversation for St Brendan-Shaw College students about brain health, alcohol and other drugs, the choices young people encounter and what can sit behind them.
Students across Years 7–12 participated in sessions with Tanya from NotEvenOnce, with evidence-informed education, lived experience and open discussion coming together in a preventative approach focused on understanding rather than simply warning young people about risk.
“We all have things that go on in our world, good and bad,” Tanya told students.
“We’re all facing choices every day, in fact, every hour, every minute.”
Her challenge to students was to become curious about those choices.
Why might someone use a substance? What happens in the brain and body when they do? What can influence decision-making? What protects our brain health? How can we recognise when something is not right? And, importantly, what can we do next?
Understanding and protecting the brain
Brain health was a significant focus of the sessions.
Students explored the role the brain plays in memory, learning, emotions, behaviour, coordination and decision-making and considered why protecting the developing adolescent brain is particularly important.
Through videos, questions and discussion, students examined the impacts alcohol and other substances can have on brain function and how impairment can affect judgement, communication, coordination and the ability to make decisions.
The conversation was not limited to what can harm the brain.
Tanya encouraged students to think about the everyday things that can help protect it, including adequate sleep, physical activity, good nutrition, healthy relationships and positive ways of responding to stress and difficult experiences.
It shifted the conversation from simply avoiding harm towards understanding brain health as something young people can actively support.
Understanding the ‘why’
Rather than approaching prevention as a list of things young people should or shouldn’t do, Tanya encouraged students to consider what can sit behind a choice.
“Because we can understand the ‘why’, or the reasoning behind our choices, then maybe we make some better ones for ourselves,” she said.
Students contributed their own ideas about why people might use alcohol or other drugs, identifying experimentation, peer pressure, wanting to feel different and trying to escape difficult experiences.
They also considered potential impacts on physical and emotional health, relationships, finances, behaviour, learning and decision-making.
Tanya drew on her own lived experience to add another dimension to that understanding.
She spoke candidly about beginning to use substances when she was young as a way of coping with difficult experiences rather than talking about what was happening.
Her story demonstrated why prevention can require more than information alone.
Recognising what sits behind a behaviour can create an opportunity for a different response: a conversation, a healthier coping strategy, connection with a trusted person or appropriate support.
Creating space for young people to talk
Tanya made it clear from the beginning that students did not have to be passive participants.
“I don’t mind my presentation being hijacked by what you want to know,” she told them.
“That’s the most important thing.”
Students were encouraged to contribute, challenge, ask questions and explore the issues that mattered to them.
Those conversations continued beyond the formal presentation.
Reflecting publicly after her visit, Tanya wrote about how much she values working with young people and the meaningful connections that can emerge when they feel able to share something of themselves with another person.
“I love working with young people, we gain as much as we give,” she wrote.
It is a reflection that captures an important part of the NotEvenOnce approach.
Effective prevention is not simply information delivered in one direction. Young people need opportunities to ask questions, be listened to, build trusted relationships and feel that their experiences matter.
Recognising risk and looking out for others
Personal safety was another important part of the sessions.
Students explored how alcohol and other substances can affect judgement and behaviour, alongside situations in which someone’s behaviour or physical condition may change unexpectedly.
Through discussion of drink spiking, students considered the importance of recognising when something does not seem right, looking out for friends and seeking appropriate help.
Knowing the signs of risk is valuable not only for making decisions about ourselves, but for recognising when someone around us may need support.
That idea connected strongly with Tanya’s broader message: notice, understand and do something with that knowledge.
School as a safe place to seek help
Students were also reminded that difficult conversations do not need to wait until a situation reaches crisis point.
During the sessions, Tanya acknowledged that discussions about alcohol, drugs, addiction and difficult life experiences could connect with something happening in a student’s own life.
Her message was clear: talk to someone.
At St Brendan-Shaw College, school is one of the places where that conversation can begin.
A teacher or another trusted adult can be a safe first point of connection when a student is worried about themselves, concerned about a friend, has questions or simply knows that something does not feel right.
Young people do not need to arrive with the right words or already know what help they need. Starting the conversation can be the first step.
Prevention through understanding and connection
The NotEvenOnce approach extends beyond individual education sessions.
Its broader work brings together evidence-based community support with a holistic, long-term approach to prevention, including connection with young people, mentoring and social enterprise opportunities.
Together, these elements recognise that prevention is not achieved through information alone.
Knowledge helps young people understand their brains and bodies. Critical thinking helps them assess risks and make informed decisions. Practical strategies give them ways to protect their health. Relationships give them somewhere to turn when things become difficult.
Tanya’s sessions brought those elements together.
Students were given an opportunity to understand how their brains work, consider what can influence the choices people make, recognise risks, identify strategies that support brain health and know that seeking help is a practical and positive response.
Prevention is not one conversation or one presentation. It is built over time through understanding, connection, trusted relationships and support.
And sometimes it begins with a deceptively simple question:
“Who thought about their brain today?”
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