Abominable Paper

Elliot Campos
Mr. Blaskiewicz
English 190-17
9/11/07
Experience: My Anti-Drug
Three billion six hundred thousand drinks a year at ten million drinks each day.[1] A teenager in America is guided through social stages throughout his life. One expectation, whether built by society or by their limited perception of society, is the temptation to be involved in underage drinking and smoking. A balance between social life and grades, every high school student struggles to be accepted by their peers. One way many feel they can do this is by using drugs and alcohol to deflate the tension of social situations. A growing problem in the United States is that teenagers are now making poor decisions despite new information about the dangers of smoking and underage drinking. Personally I have been able to resist the temptation presented to me, because of my education and my experiences.
New studies have shown the ill effects of drugs and alcohol consumption for teenagers. This information has been accumulating and is being supported by youth programs targeted towards kids in their junior high years. One program is D.A.R.E, D.A.R.E stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education[2]. This program was introduced to me when I was in fifth grade. D.A.R.E. is a program aimed at children and their parents to promote safe alcohol and drug free environments. My peers and I looked forward to our D.A.R.E. classes because a local police officer would come into our class and teach us. At this point in our lives, we still had the admiration for the officer, whom many of us would soon lose in a few years. From a young age I realized that all of the time spent into the program and the funding made me value the message. I was able to realize that drinking and smoking was harmful, and people were exhorting their effort and money to make me become conscious of the dangers those actions and decisions possessed. A class every other week during my fifth grade year was not enough to persuade me that the irresponsible use of drugs and underage drinking were harmful. I needed to become the victim in order to realize what potential dangers arose.
I was introduced to the effects of underage alcohol and drugs at a very young age. At the ripe age of seven, many children are still occupied in their own world. I was like every other child, happy-go- lucky expecting that all my wants and desires could be taken care of by my parents. I was a normal child who looked forward to Christmas, got holes in my jeans, and every once in a while tempted my parents rules. Yet, one special day caused my small world to crumble and shake my beliefs on what reality was.
I have spent Easter at my Aunt’s house in Villa Park, Illinois since I have been born. I always look forward to this event because I can expect an Easter basket filled with an abundance of chocolate and toys to entertain me for the day. I always enjoyed the dinner of ham and the cake in the shape of a lamb that followed. I spent my Easter nights not only devouring my new personal supply of chocolate, but going around and “borrowing” Reese’s Pieces or Hershey’s bars from my relative’s baskets. Within about five minutes upon entering the party I would be bouncing off the walls due to my sugar high. Every year, sometime around 8:30, I would suddenly hit a wall and lose all of that energy I had, which was always my mother’s favorite part of the evening. I would zone out for about thirty minutes then secretly start up again without my parents knowing. On my second wind as the party was ending I saw my Dad taking leftovers and presents to the car. I decided that I was going to help him load. I ran into the street and woke up in the hospital.
I was hit by a teenage driver on his way home from a party. I had bruises on my body, a cut on the side of my face, scars on my knuckles, and suffered a severe concussion. In the assessment of the accident, an officer said that I had been knocked back one hundred feet landing into a garbage can, and I was literally knocked out of my shoes as they lay were I was struck. I was lucky to have survived the accident, much less to have been able to recover with minimal injury or impairment. Unfortunately we were not the only family to suffer the same predicament that happened that Easter night in 1997. Two other families, the Ryan’s whom I played soccer with their son, could identify with the situation. We could only have empathy for them because in their tragedies both families had lost their sons who were also struck by cars in the same manner as I was.
For years I had been oblivious to what had happened to me and how fortunate I was. As a seven year old, I was able to recover to my normal self and enjoyed the rest of my childhood. For years I went on to live without realizing how lucky and fortunate I was. Eventually, I came to realize the seriousness this accident has had on my life. I began to question the purpose of why I was able to survive the accident and the other two boys were not. Through many discussions and thought I was able to realize that I would never put myself in a position to possibly hurt or injure someone the way the other two families had been. I decided that I would take a stance against drinking and using drugs.
This decision to be alcohol and drug free was tested throughout my high school years. I had settled myself with a good group of friends, some which decided to participate in underage drinking and drugs, and some that decided to not use drugs. This support system of a few friends allowed me to get through my high school years obtaining a social life but also refraining from partaking in bad decisions. Not only had I strived to create a safer environment for myself, another goal was to create a safe environment for my friends. I seemed to always be the designated driver whenever my friends drank. At times I was frustrated at the parenting and responsibility my friends put on me but I knew that if I didn’t make those small sacrifices my friends could jeopardize their lives.
The first move toward independence, teenagers begin to learn to flirt with the line of what they can and can not do. Another lesson for me was observing others people use alcohol irresponsibly. If my peers got away with their illegal activity, they would brag about how they were so deceptive. Yet, if they were caught and punished, the punishment would serve as a great story and entertainment at which their friends could marvel at. My personal sight of the irony of this situation allowed me to see my peers as juvenile and unsophisticated. Drinking and drugs to me became a social strategy toward being accepted. I did not only need evidence from my peers, but my education also served as another motive in my decision to not drink or experiment with drugs.
With a Jesuit education, I was taught that a body was a gift from God. The body is a gift that needed to be cared and nurtured for in order to care and nurture others. The use of excessive amounts of alcohol and drugs impairs the body, killing brain cells necessary for the development. As teenagers are maturing into adult hood, many debilitate their bodies by maiming their growth by making poor judgments.
I was able to have a social life attending parties, but sometimes the drunken banter and unconscious bad decisions of other attendees made me frustrated and angry. Their remarks both inappropriate and uncalled for led me to see the effects on judgment that alcohol has. I have also spent many nights taking care of friends who have made poor choices in their amount of consumption of liquor, and had to watch them suffer the after-effects of their choices.
Through my own personal experience I have been led to make the decisions to not participate in underage drinking and the experimentation with drugs. From a young age I had to come to a realization that life is precious, and that every minute should not be taken for granted. I was taught to make wise decisions that would nurture my growth and development. It was not just that police officer telling us about drug free environments, or just my own personal tragedy. It was not just my education or experiencing my friends poor decisions. In the end, those factors lead me to use my reason, and make smart positive decisions. Experience, my anti-drug.
[1] www.underagedrinkingprevention.org 9/10/07
[2] www.dare.com 9/10/07

Revision:
9/25/07

American teenagers are guided through social stages throughout their life. Underage drinking tempts American teens. A balance between grades and social life, every high school student struggles to be accepted by their peers. One way many teens feel they can overcome the social stress is by using alcohol to deflate the anxiety of social life. A growing problem in the in the United States is that teenagers are making poor decisions despite new information about the dangers of underage drinking. My education and my experiences have lead me to resist the temptation of underage drinking.
Programs are now being geared toward kids about the dangers of alcohol. One program is D.A.R.E, Drug Abuse Resistance Education. I took part in D.A.R.E when I was in fifth grade. An officer would come to our class and talk to us about drug abuse. From a young age I realized how much money was spent into making me realize that alcohol was harmful. A class once a week in fifth grade led me on the path to not partake.
I was introduced to the affects of alcohol from a young age. Every Easter my family gathers at my Aunt’s house in Villa Park, IL. I can always expect lots of candy and a delicious dinner of ham, and my favorite desert, a cake in the shape of a lamb. As the night ended I saw my dad taking leftovers and gifts to the car and I decided that I was going to help him. I ran into the street and woke up in the hospital.
I had been struck by a teenage driver on his way home from a party. I had bruises on my body, a cut on my face, scars on my knuckles, and suffered a severe concussion. In the assessment of the accident, an officer said that I had been knocked back one hundred feet landing on a garbage can, and I was literally knocked out of my shoes as they lay where I was struck. I was lucky to have survived the accident, much less be able to recover with minimal injury or impairment. The driver stopped and made sure that I was ok. He was then arrested by the police.
We were not the only family to suffer a tragedy of a child being struck by a car. Two other local families had identical accidents to mine. Their sons however were killed upon impact. Eventually I came to realize the serious effects the accident had on my life. I began to question the purpose of why I was able to survive the accident and the two other boys were not. Through many discussions and thought I was able to realize I could never put myself in a position to injure someone the way the other two boys had been. I decided that I would take a stance against underage drinking.
This decision to be alcohol free was tested throughout my high school years. I had settled in with a good group of friends, some who drank, and others who didn’t. This support system of a few friends allowed me to get though my high school years obtaining a social life, but also refraining from making bad decisions. Not only had I strived to create a safer environment for myself, another goal was to create a safe environment for my friends.
The first move step toward independence, teenagers test the line of what they can and can not do. Another lesson for me was observing how others used alcohol irresponsibly. If my peers got away with their illegal activity they would brag about how deceptive they were. Yet, if they were caught and punished, the punishment would serve as a great story and entertainment at which their friends could marvel at. My insight led me to disregard the influence of alcohol on social life. Drinking to me became a social strategy toward being accepted. With my Jesuit education from St. Ignatius College Prep, I was taught that a body was a gift from God. As teenagers are maturing into adulthood, many maim their bodies by making poor judgments.
My experience has led me to decide to refrain from underage drinking and experimenting with drugs. I was taught to make wise decisions that would nurture my growth and development. It was a path from an early age that led me to chose not to drink along with my own personal trauma. My experience has led me to resist the temptation to drink.