Ok...it's starting. The week(s) I've been dreading all year. The time when I have no choice but to face the fact that my babies are growing up. It actully started last week, when we met with Trey's Middle School music teacher to sign him up for orchestra and set up our rental agreement for his instrument---the viola. I sure hope he enjoys it and sticks with it.
Today was his DARE graduation. DARE stands for Drug Awareness Resistance Education, and is taught by the local sherriff's department. Every Wednesday for the last few months, Trey comes home with enlightening info like, "mom, did you know that a cigarette has rat poison in it?" He really learned a lot and I feel better knowing that he has good comebacks if (no--when) he gets tempted by peer pressure to make the wrong choice about drugs, cigarettes, alcohol and even sex. Since I work in a middle school, I know it's out there and as much as I'd like to keep him young and naive, I know that he needs the tools with which to stand up for what he believes in the face of temptation and peer pressure.
I'm including his essay for ya'll to read...I'm really proud of him!!
To some people, D.A.R.E means “Drug Abuse Resistance Education” but to me, D.A.R.E is “Decision + Anticipate + Relationship = Effect. For the last few weeks, I have learned so much about drug, alcohol and tobacco like 1,200 people die everyday and there are 599 ingredients in cigarettes.
The Decision is not up to your parents but up to yourself. Make the right choice by saying No! Anticipate means to plan ahead to have at least one way to say no. Like the one that sounds funny to me is broken record because you just say one word every time. But there are lots of other ways too… Like walking away and giving an excuse.
R is Relationship. You have to choose the right friend. If your friend asked if you want cigarettes, that means he doesn’t care about you and is not really a true friend. That is also called peer pressure. You can change the subject or give an excuse.
E is the Effect you get when you add Decisions, Anticipate, and Relationships. Making good choices will help you stay away from harmful things like drugs, smoking and alcohol. Another effect is if you do drugs then there’s a lot of stuff that harm you like if you smoke you can get cancer and heart disease. Just say no and keep that answer. Everything has an effect so go the right way. I want to say thank you to Officer Bodine for teaching us about drugs and what would happen if you do drugs. D.A.R.E is really awesome and you will learn so much. That’s what D.A.R.E means to me.
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