Children educate on alcohol
Mayes Elementary students are currently engaged in an eight-week, classroom-based, alcohol-use prevention curriculum called "Protecting You, Protecting Me." Over the past six weeks, students have learned a great deal about the costs of underage drinking and drinking and driving. The following student-written editorials represent the stand that they are taking on drinking and driving.
w Don't drink and drive. You'll go to jail. Nearly 18,000 people die from a drunken driver every year.
w Please don't drink and drive because you could die or kill someone else. You will also have to pay fines and it will put a hardship on your family.
w Drunken driving is very dangerous. On average, two people die per hour from alcohol-related traffic fatalities. Drunken driving is illegal and nobody should drive drunken.
w Drunken driving is very bad and it is against the law and you could get killed by doing it. If you drink alcohol under the age of 21, you can damage your growing brain. If you drive drunk, you could lose control and kill yourself or other people. Don't drive drunk!
w Do not drive drunk. It can mess up your brain and it also is illegal to drive drunk.
w Drunken driving is very bad for you. You can lose control of your car. Every 30 minutes, someone gets killed from drunken driving. Alcohol is not safe for you, especially because it turns your dendrites off so your brain isn't working properly.
w Drunk driving has got to come to an end. Innocent lives are being lost.
w Not drinking and driving is making a good choice. There are a lot of consequences if you make that bad choice like having your license taken, going to jail, and many others. If you have been making that bad choice, I suggest that you stop.
w We can stop drunken driving by taking a stand. We can do this by telling people not to drink alcohol, especially if you're going to be driving.
w The reason that all 50 states have drunken driving laws is to protect people and to help save lives. Our rules and laws only work if people abide by them. Intoxicated means that you are drunk and that means that your brain is messed up. If you're drunk and messed up while you are driving, you are breaking the law. Don't drive drunk!
w Drunken driving isn't a smart thing to do!
w I would like to take a stand against drunken driving because it is bad for you and could get you into lots of trouble. I don't want to drink alcohol because when I get older, I want to be a football player and a veterinarian so I can have a big house and alcohol can mess all of that up.
w Drinking and driving is very bad for you. Jail isn't a fun place, so you will regret your decision to drink and drive.
For further information about the "Protecting You, Protecting Me" program or other substance-abuse prevention or treatment services that Ten Sixteen Recovery Network provides to our community, please contact Becky Wang, prevention coordinator, by calling (989) 773-9655, ext. 105, or by emailing rwang@1016.org
