Trent B 5Lo

DARE Essay

DARE helped me to understand the importance of making good decisions in my life.  Of course, most people agree that drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco and giving in to peer pressure can be very bad.

Did you know that drinking can make you lose self control and hurt other people?  Drinking can make you lose hand-eye coordination that can result in a fatal car accident.  It slows your reflexes and can cause you to lose control of the car.  So the thought of drinking alcohol and getting into a car seems like a really bad idea. Experts agree that drinking alcohol can make you lose memory.  You won’t remember when you drink or the day before you wake up after passing out.  Drinking under the age of 21 is illegal. Dare helped me realized drinking is a very bad choice.

Chewing and smoking tobacco is very unhealthy.  For example, it creates breathing problems and heart disease.  It also affects body development for growing teens and young adults.  If you are doing sports, then it will be hard to play because you won’t breathe well.  You will get tar in your lungs that clog up where the oxygen goes into your body.  Nicotine is inside of tobacco and that’s what makes it addictive to people.  After they get addicted, it is very hard to stop. If they try, then they get really bad headaches. Dare showed me that I should never try tobacco. 

Officer Batlin told us and I believe that peers try to pressure you to smoke or drink.  The first thing I would do is just say no.  If that doesn’t work then walk away and tell an adult.  You could also change the subject by telling them about something that happened earlier. Or if it is someone who didn’t go to DARE, you should explain the reasons why it is bad to smoke or drink. Then maybe they will stop.  If they did go to DARE then you need to remind them.  You should remind them in a way that they can understand or ask an adult to do it. You could save a friend’s life. DARE taught me how to say no and how to help my friends to say no.

DARE helped me understand all the reasons why drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco and experiencing destructive peer pressure were dangerous.  I didn’t really know what these things were before DARE.  Now that I do, I know not to do it.   

I know I will make wise decisions about alcohol, tobacco and other drugs.