Lele

Recently, MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) came to my school, Miami Palmetto Senior High. They came to launch a new video, which attempted to reach youth using popular media and a high tech show. There were tragic personal stories in the video, of the destruction and devastation drug use can cause. I had tears running down my face, and I know many others around me did too. But was the video effective in reaching out to its audience?

Less than a month after the video was shown, a boy in my school was killed in a car accident, very probably with alcohol playing a part. And on Halloween, or Homecoming, or any of the other of the weekend nights, did the video make any difference…to anyone? Sometimes I feel like it doesn't. Like all the effort, all the assemblies, all the talks, will come to nothing. That no matter how many drug facts we spread around the school, how many speeches I make to the world, it doesn't mean anything to my friends, my classmates. Because we're young and impetuous and high on life, and we live in the world of "nothing could ever happen to me."

But it's not true, because there are too many people who die or are hurt every day for this idea to continue. As DFYIT (Drug Free Youth In Town) president of my school, we try so hard to spread the truth and create fun incentives for kids to stay drug-free. But we're battling so much ignorance, so much disbelief. I joined DFYIT to alleviate the pressure on so many kids today, to provide an atmosphere where plenty of kids are living life to the fullest without drugs. We teach that despite what they think, marijuana, tobacco, and alcohol are very powerful drugs, and not something to have fun in the parking lot during lunch or after school. Most importantly, we want to provide them with the knowledge that they can develop into strong, independent individuals without drugs.

We are our nation's future we have dreams and hopes. And I bet none of them include being drug addicts, living that image of a dark alley corner, or facing that door of an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.

So what must be done to make a difference? All we can do is try, and try, and try. And then try some more… to use whatever preventive methods we can think of to help. We want to change people, starting with one, two, three… until more and more through the combined efforts of everyone have heard the message. In the end, all the speeches, assemblies, and talks do make a difference. I have a goal and I have ways to achieve it. I also have leaders to guide me. This is my anti-drug: to make a difference in my life and in the lives of my classmates