D.A.R.E.

Last night I attended my daughter fifth grade D.A.R.E. graduation. The elementary schools in Little Falls were represented and Alyssa was chosen as the Lindbergh Elem. student to share her D.A.R.E. essay. I was so proud of her, not just for the great job she did, but for the fact that she was able to give her speech with a crowd of several hundred people. I would have been scared to death to do that at her age. Even though I'm a pastor now and speak in front of people all the time, it wasn't until I had to take a speech class in the 8th grade that I overcame some of my fears. Did you know that speaking in front of people is the number one fear that people have. I still get a little nervous. I've learned that it's good to be that way because it helps us to rely upon the Lord.



I have enclosed in this blog my daughter's essay. I hope you enjoy it and if you happen to have problems with drugs and/or alcohol, perhaps it will make you think a little.







D.A.R.E. Essay
By Alyssa Thompson


D.A.R.E. stands for drug, abuse, resistance, education. I like D.A.R.E. because it teaches kids how bad smoking and drugs are. I really like D.A.R.E. because it also gives you a chance to talk with other people about how we will say no to people that ask us if we want to do drugs. I think other people should know D.A.R.E. does help and it is a great program. I think we should have D.A.R.E. every year.

I learned a lot in D.A.R.E. Some things I learned are ways to say no to drugs. I also learned how to handle peer pressure. Some of the ways Alcohol can hurt you are you lose self-control, you have slurred speech, poor judgment, memory lapses, slowed reflexes, and loss of coordination. Alcohol is also illegal for anyone under 21.

Marijuana causes breathing problems, short-term memory loss, and slows reflexes. There also is tar in Marijuana. Marijuana is also extremely addictive.

Tobacco will cause breathing problems and it causes heart disease. Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in this country. Smoking is the most common cause of lung cancer. Also there are not very many teenagers that smoke. Less than half of teenagers do smoke. Tobacco also has nicotine, which makes it addictive.

Peer pressure can make you do something bad or something good. There are a couple different types of peer pressure. Some of them are demanding, unsure, and confident.

In the future, if someone tells me to smoke or do drugs, I’ll say no. My plan is to give them facts about smoking and why I shouldn’t do it. If they say, “It will make you look cool.” I can say, “No, it doesn’t make you cool. It only makes you smell and your breath stink, really bad.” After that I’ll walk away.