Creating a drug-free America and saving lives, one student at a time.

I always have to chuckle at myself trying to teach fifth graders about drugs and alcohol, as if I am anything close to an authority on the subject. I have no idea what I'm saying, really, other than what this elementary school text book tells me, and I'm always afraid of sounding like the dad on Freaks and Geeks: "You know where he's at now? He's DEAD!" The closest I've come to smoking is having my family accuse me of taking up cigarettes to lose weight.

But it's always very heartwarming and richly rewarding to know I've gotten through to some students. Case in point? This student's closing essay:

Some reasons to not use alcohol are simple to explain. Number one: you see a person smoking. He looks totally normal. But inside his lungs are pitch black because of tar. Number two: A person is drinking in a bar. It is fine to drink a little, but not a lot. Now he's drunk or intoxicated. Two paths are now possible, and both can lead to death -- he falls down on his back, starts throwing up and can drown in his barf, or he goes out of the bar and while driving home crashes and can die. And number three: if you smoke marijuana you probably have hallucinations, that can be deadly. A man was on top of the empire state building, and was so addicted to marijuana, he saw a pack of marijuana falling out of the window, ran to save it, fell off and died (true story). Those are the main reasons why not to get addicted to drugs.


Convincing, isn't it? I'm letting him teach next time.