SR-25
04-04-2006, 09:00 AM
Last updated: Tuesday, Apr 04, 2006 - 06:36:34 am PDT
Middle school students are getting a lesson in the dangers of alcohol and drugs from the California Highway Patrol.
"Right Turn" provides sixththrough eighth-graders information on how they can make good choices in their lives.
Since the program began in March, CHP officer Robert Rickman has met with students in Jefferson Elementary School, and last week he spoke before six North School classes. Lessons are also being planned for Hawkins and Delta Island schools.
Drinking and driving, drugs and peer pressure were among the topics discussed during Rickman's 30-minute program Friday.
While talking to a class of sixth-graders, Rickman asked if any of them had ever consumed alcohol, and nine out of 20 admitted they had. When asked if they'd ever been drunk, six said they did and recalled feeling dizzy and sick.
"You guys aren't bullet proof," Rickman said to a class of eighth-graders Friday. "You can't make these decisions and expect to come home safe."
He said the No. 1 killer of teenagers is accidents, and factoring in alcohol increases those statistics dramatically.
"You're pressured to get into a car with someone that's drunk. You get in because you're so scared about being labeled uncool or a wimp. If you drink and drive and kill someone in your car, you're not cool ? you're a murderer," he said.
To demonstrate the addictive dangers, Rickman played a video that highlighted the dangerous influences of drugs and alcohol.
Many of the students said they particularly enjoyed a portion of the video that showed a candid-camera experiment to see how many teens would get into the car of a suspected drunken driver. It showed more than half did it, even though they knew it was wrong.
"It was funny, but also interesting," Joshua Saunders, 11, said. "I learned a lesson."
"I liked it," 13-year-old classmate Bianca Ortega said. "It shows what to do and what not to do, and make the right decisions."
Also in the video, a teenage boy talks about the death of his older brother from sniffing aerosol cans. The craze, known as "huffing," caused the teenager to die in a car accident after he blacked out.
"It was pretty tight," seventh-grader Stephen Capella, 13, said. "Drugs are just as bad as drinking."
Principal Nancy Link said she enjoys the program because it doesn't try to overwhelm the children with statistics. She said the message is presented in a way that is easy for them to understand.
North School teachers also praised the program Friday because it reaches children before they're old enough to drive.
"They can't believe I don't drink or do drugs," eighth-grade teacher Louis Putney said. "They need to hear it from people they respect and who are knowledgeable so they can make good choices. These programs are life savers."
Right Turn is funded by a federal grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety and the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency.
http://www.lodinews.com/articles/2006/04/04/news/7_chp_060404.txt
Middle school students are getting a lesson in the dangers of alcohol and drugs from the California Highway Patrol.
"Right Turn" provides sixththrough eighth-graders information on how they can make good choices in their lives.
Since the program began in March, CHP officer Robert Rickman has met with students in Jefferson Elementary School, and last week he spoke before six North School classes. Lessons are also being planned for Hawkins and Delta Island schools.
Drinking and driving, drugs and peer pressure were among the topics discussed during Rickman's 30-minute program Friday.
While talking to a class of sixth-graders, Rickman asked if any of them had ever consumed alcohol, and nine out of 20 admitted they had. When asked if they'd ever been drunk, six said they did and recalled feeling dizzy and sick.
"You guys aren't bullet proof," Rickman said to a class of eighth-graders Friday. "You can't make these decisions and expect to come home safe."
He said the No. 1 killer of teenagers is accidents, and factoring in alcohol increases those statistics dramatically.
"You're pressured to get into a car with someone that's drunk. You get in because you're so scared about being labeled uncool or a wimp. If you drink and drive and kill someone in your car, you're not cool ? you're a murderer," he said.
To demonstrate the addictive dangers, Rickman played a video that highlighted the dangerous influences of drugs and alcohol.
Many of the students said they particularly enjoyed a portion of the video that showed a candid-camera experiment to see how many teens would get into the car of a suspected drunken driver. It showed more than half did it, even though they knew it was wrong.
"It was funny, but also interesting," Joshua Saunders, 11, said. "I learned a lesson."
"I liked it," 13-year-old classmate Bianca Ortega said. "It shows what to do and what not to do, and make the right decisions."
Also in the video, a teenage boy talks about the death of his older brother from sniffing aerosol cans. The craze, known as "huffing," caused the teenager to die in a car accident after he blacked out.
"It was pretty tight," seventh-grader Stephen Capella, 13, said. "Drugs are just as bad as drinking."
Principal Nancy Link said she enjoys the program because it doesn't try to overwhelm the children with statistics. She said the message is presented in a way that is easy for them to understand.
North School teachers also praised the program Friday because it reaches children before they're old enough to drive.
"They can't believe I don't drink or do drugs," eighth-grade teacher Louis Putney said. "They need to hear it from people they respect and who are knowledgeable so they can make good choices. These programs are life savers."
Right Turn is funded by a federal grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety and the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency.
http://www.lodinews.com/articles/2006/04/04/news/7_chp_060404.txt