We often think that friends or drug dealers may have pressured their child into taking drugs. But children say that
they choose to use drugs because they want to:
- Relieve boredom
- Feel good
- Forget their troubles and relax
- Have fun
- Satisfy their curiosity
- Take risks
- Ease pain
- Feel grown-up
- Show their independence
- Belong to a specific group and look cool
When I first started presenting anti-drug programs I thought most children started using drugs because their
friends asked them to. It's one of the reasons but not realy the main one, this shocked me.
The scariest one on the list for me is - "To Feel Good". Unfortunately drugs
can initally make our children "feel good". We know that it's just temporary but it does work for
a short time. So, it's our job as educators to prove to the students that the temporary good feeling drugs may give
them could cost them dearly in the end.
Another big problem is that students think that only illegal drugs like cocaine can really
hurt them. So, they experiment with things they can find right in ther own home...
Did you know that a popular activity among 8- and 9-year-old children in the U.S. is to paint
their fingernails with White-Out and then sniff them during class? Yes, it’s true; they can actually get a bit
of a rush from sniffing White-Out. Or deodorant. Or hair spray, nail polish, rubber cement (they roll it into balls and stick
it up their nose), lighter fluid, the propellant in cans of whip cream. There are more than 1,000 household
and industrial products that are being misused by children and adolescents, and they are the drug of choice in elementary
school. Federal surveys have found that by the time a student reaches eighth grade, one in five will have
used inhalants.
"A Drug Free Me" is designed to tell them the truth
about drugs and what they can do to the body and mind. I use magic, Story Telling and music to gain their
attention. I present this information in this manner to make it memorable. It's my goal to be a powerful tool
in the fight against drug abuse. I hope you will allow me to present this program for your students this year.
*** Teacher's Guide provided for discussion in class.
