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In the state of Illinois, most public schools have a program known as DARE,
or Drug Abuse Resistance Education. DARE teaches us to stay away from
drugs and to stay in school. About a year ago, the DARE teacher brought
in some marijuana for all of us to see, so in the future we would be able to
tell if people were smoking it, which would help us know when to find an adult.
I thought that would never happen to me. Until today.
It was a sad rainy day at my school. I was in my lunch period, watching a basketball
game between the 7th graders and the 8th graders. I kinda got bored of it, since
no one was making any shots, and so I headed to the restroom. I opened the door.
And what I saw was very sad.
At first, I walked in and saw my "friend" Jim. Then I saw a kid who
is known around the school for smoking. Then I saw the three most popular girls
at our school. I didn't really see them smoking the marijuana, but from DARE,
I knew what it smelled like.
They told me, "Please don't tell anyone!"
Another said, "Yea, be our lookout, okay? You want some?"
I said, "No thanks." But I actually agreed to be their "lookout."
The reason I did this was because I didn't want my friend to get in trouble.
But the fact is, I was risking myself big time by doing that.
I started pacing up and down the hall outside the restroom. Then something
caught my eye.
"This isn't good," I said.
I sprinted to the bathroom. "Jim, Chris! Get out of here! A teacher's coming!
You girls need to get out too!" But only Jim and Chris and I got out of
there. The girls decided to stay. They were too high to know what was really
going to happen to them. We sprinted down the steps to the lunch room.
And guess what happened to the three girls. They were CAUGHT. And given a two-week
suspension.
It could have been a lot worse. This just goes to show a fraction of the danger
you can put yourself and others in when you do things like this.
Don't EVER take anything from ANYONE that you think is drugs. They will try
to sweet-talk you. Don't buy it.
This is Seron, off to my soccer game.
Editor's Note: Wow! I remember the DARE program from when I
was your age! I'm glad it's still going. Now, Seron's article brings up a good
question -- what kind of friend asks you to help them do something illegal?
Because acting as a lookout like that is actually illegal, and could have gotten
Seron suspended from school, or worse. More than that, what kind of friend gets
you involved in drugs? Here's hoping those folks learn, and you all have the
strength to tell such people to shove it.
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