My DARE Report by Anna Mercina

In D.A.R.E class, I’ve learned how to protect myself and how to keep myself healthy by not doing certain things. These are some of the things that I learned in D.A.R.E class.

I’ve learned to say no to people that put peer pressure on me (if it happens). Peer pressure is when someone forces me or asks me aggressively to do something wrong or illegal against my will so I can be part of their “circle or group”. Example, if someone asks me to smoke a cigarette and I refuse, they say you cannot be our friend.

Another thing I learned is how bad tobacco and alcohol can really be. Drinking alcohol slows down the brain and creates all kinds of health issues. Some of the health effects are loss of coordination, poor judgement, memory loss, loss of self-control and slow reflexes. Drinking alcohol under the age of 21 is illegal as well as driving under the influence is also illegal. Alcoholism also creates major family related issues.  Tobacco reduces the amount of blood that flows through the brain and creates breathing problems. It is illegal for anyone to buy cigarettes under the age of 18. If you smoke, you have the possibility of getting lung cancer, heart attacks, bad breath and yellow teeth.

Also, I learned about bullying. Bullying is when someone physically applies harm on you or someone that speaks to you saying rude comments about you. Bullying is also putting peer pressure on you in a way. A bully can make you do something without you wanting to. Remember, if someone is bullying you, tell an adult immediately and if they tell you not to tell an adult, tell an adult when the bully isn’t around.

Another thing I learned is to avoid people doing the wrong things. For instance, let’s say that you were walking home from school and you saw a bunch of people smoking and taking drugs. If you were going to make the right decision, you would avoid the smokers and drug takers and try to find a different route home. If you were to make the wrong decision, you would keep going the route that the smokers and drug takers were going in. That’s what not to do.

I’ve also learned to make the right decisions. I’ve learned to make the right choice to not smoke when I grow up and I also learned to not drink alcohol when I grow up and to not take drugs. All of these things that I just mentioned are bad for you. Taking drugs is bad, smoking is very bad and drinking alcohol is bad.

Lastly, I’ve learned the signs of stress. If you are stressed out, you may be sweating, yelling, dropping things and breathing heavily. To calm yourself down, you can count to 10 in your mind, take deep breaths, sit down or take a nap. Those choices may often help people calm down.

In conclusion, you have learned about the things that I have learned in D.A.R.E and I hope you learned some things and I hope you make the right decisions when you grow up.

Drug
Abuse
Resistance
Education