Here are a couple of gems that the 11 year-old's learned, before I post the whole article:

"Tobacco, marijuana, alcohol and inhalants can kill you the first time

you try it."

" Marijuana can make you have suicide

thoughts and can kill you."

Editor's note:

Fifth-graders at Wagner Elementary School and the School of St. Philip

wrapped up nine weeks of classroom instruction in the D. A.R.E. (Drug Abuse

Resistance Education) curriculum. The students spend an hour each week learning

about the dangers of drug, alcohol and tobacco use, as well as strategies to use

in effectively saying "no" to drug use. The program wrapped up with graduation

ceremonies last week at the two schools.

As part ofthe program, students were asked to write a paper about what

they learned. Following is a sampling:

By Derek Fruetel In D.A.R.E., the D.A.R.E. decision-making model is: D

stands for Define; Astands for Assess; R stands for Respond; and the E stands

for Evaluate.

Drugs can affect your body by: tobacco affects your body's development,

dry your skin out and causes wrinkles. Yellow teeth and bad breath, more than

400,000 Americans die from tobacco every year, and it gives you cancer at the

mouth, throat, bladder and kidney. Marijuana affects your body. Marijuana users

have more colds and upper respiratory issues. Marijuana causes breathing

problems, slows your coordination and reflexes, causes memory loss, and

marijuana is an illegal drug in the United States. Alcohol affects your body by

slowing down your brain and body, slurred speech, poor judgment, slow reflexes,

and loss of self-control. Too much alcohol can cause a coma or death. Alcohol

damages every organ in your body. Combining alcohol and medicine is dangerous.

Alcohol is illegal under the age of 21.

My future plans are to never do drugs. I feel in college or my future

job is that drugs are not allowed and I will keep my body in shape. My pledge is

I will never do drugs and if my friends get caught in drugs, I will help them

get on the right track again. I will never ride with a person who is under the

influence of drugs for my own safety.

By Cody Schabert One of the things I learned in D. A.R.E. was the

D.A.R.E. decision-making model. I think it is important because it allows you to

make your own decisions.

D: define, describe the problem or opportunity.

A: assess, what are your choices?

R: respond, use the facts and information you have gathered, and

E: evaluate, review your decision, did you make a good choice?

Drugs can have a terrible affect on your body.

Smoking is extremely addictive. There are over 200 known poisons in

tobacco, and over 400,000 Americans die from tobacco-related causes each year!

Smoking not only affects you, if someone is breathing in the smoke from the

cigarettes you're smoking, it's affecting them just as much as you, and the

person smoking it. Approximately 3,000 non-smokers die each year from breathing

in someone else's cigarette smoke, but on the bright side, you can resist drugs

and respond to peer pressure in a fun way.

Here are some ways: Saying" no." Saying" no" is the easiest and fastest

way to refuse.

Giving a reason or fact such as "My parents will ground me for life."

Changing the subject. "Nah, let's go play kickball instead."

Repeat" no."" Dude wanna smoke?" "Nah, it's not me." "Come on, man."

"Nah, it's not me."

Use humor." Hey, want some marijuana?" "No, I need all the brain cells."

I think D.A.R.E. is a great program because it prepares you for the

future. It tells you facts that you know what stuff can really do to you and

with honor, I pledge to resist drugs and violence, and I promise to stay drug

free for the rest of my life.

By Shon Oslund

In D.A.R.E. we learned a decision-making model for how to respond to

problems. The D means Define, which means to describe the problem. The A means

Assess, that means what are the choices? The R means Respond, or to make a

choice. Also, the E means to

Evaluate, to go over our decisions. Also during D.A.R.E. we learned

three ways to say no to drugs, alcohol and marijuana. I will list three ways how

to say no to those bad things. 1. Is to simply say no. 2. Another way is to just

ignore them and walk away. 3. The last way is to say no thanks, I don't need

that stuff.

We also learned all the bad stuff that alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana

and inhalants can do to our bodies. Alcohol can get you drunk and make you do

dumb stuff like drive a car and get into an accident. Cigarettes have over 200

poisons that can get lung cancer and die. Marijuana can make you have suicide

thoughts and can kill you. Inhalants can make you pass out and even kill you and

you can also get very sick.

I have learned a lot of things in D.A.R.E. I have learned the

decision-making model, what cigarettes, alcohol, drugs and inhalants can do to

your body.

My plans for the future are not to do any drugs, not to drink or smoke

cigarettes. I will make good decisions, and not do anything harmful to my body.

"I promise not to do drugs and not use tobacco or drink alcohol."

By Nathean Andersen-Otto

I learned a lot of things in D.A.R.E. about drugs, like how they can

affect your body and that you have to be in charge. Like avoiding the situation

by not going where you know that people smoke, use drugs, or drink. If you get

into a situation, you should walk away or ignore the person. If you need to get

out of a situation, like being pressured, you should say no, give a reason or

fact, change the subject, repeat saying no, or use humor. All of these help you

get out of a situation.

Tobacco, marijuana, alcohol and inhalants can kill you the first time

you try it. Tobacco can cause breathing problems, heart disease, lung cancer,

affect your body development and yellow teeth. Marijuana can cause breathing

problems, has a better chance to get colds and upper respiratory problems.

Alcohol can cause memory lapses, poor judgment, loss of coordination, slowed

reflexes and loss of self-control. There are a lot of better things to do than

drugs, like ride bike, play sports, and a lot more. There are advertisings

everywhere. They target kids because they'll get addicted and use their products

for a long time. Their pictures show people having fun, being strong and happy,

but they're lies. You will not have any fun, you will not get stronger, and

probably not happy. You will not be able to quit easily if you get addicted.

In the future I will avoid drugs by keeping in mind all the things I

have learned in D.A.R.E., and never give in to drugs. "I promise to say no to

drugs so I don't die early or have health issues."

ByAriana Jackman D.A.R.E. means drug abuse resistance education. A good

way to say no to cigarettes and drugs is to change the subject, walk way, say

no, or use humor. When someone peer pressures you, it can be good for you or it

can be very bad for you.

Drugs can affect you by giving you bad breath, yellow teeth, alcohol

slows you down, you can lose self-control, you can lose part of your memory, you

can have slurred speech, and alcohol can cause diseases. It is important to have

good friends because they won't peer pressure. If your friends are giving you

peer pressure or telling you you should smoke or take drugs, you should pick new

friends.

I promise to say no to drugs because I don't want to put others in

danger. I don't want someone to die or get severely hurt because I was drinking.

By Eddie Sladek

Have you ever been asked to smoke? What did you do? What did you say?

How did you act? Well, here are a few options you can do. You could simply say,

"No," and walk away. You could change the subject, "No, let's go play some

catch." Or you can use humor. "No, I need all my brain cells." Those are all

good ways to be in charge.

Smoking causes yellow teeth and bad breath. If you play sports and

smoke, you will suffer from dehydration of breath and dizziness. Over 400,000

people die each year from tobacco-related causes. Approximately 3,000 nonsmokers

die of lung cancer each year due to breathing other people's smoke.

I have learned in D.A.R.E. not to smoke or do any other bad types of

drugs. I plan to stay healthy in sports and in life. I promise to say no to

drugs and other bad things.

Magician Jerry Fraiser was a hit with a variety of tricks and a message

for students about being true to themselves during the D.A.R.E. graduation event

Nov. 20 at Wagner Elementary School. At right, Police Chief Patrick Fank

presents a D.A.R.E. diploma to Claudia Treml while D.A.R.E. officer Aaron Nelson