Fairfax D.A.R.E. students are pictured with Deputy Rick Sons and their teacher, Jennifer Blakeman.

Rock Port D.A.R.E. students are pictured with Deputy Rick Sons.

Tarkio D.A.R.E. students are pictured with Deputy Rick Sons and their teacher, Tammy Hall.

Atchison County D.A.R.E. held individual class graduations in April and essay winners were picked from each class. This was different than in the past, but they didn’t get to do it at all in 2020, so this is a positive step forward. Rick Sons, D.A.R.E. officer, said, “I am very proud of these kids. Thank you to all the teachers and administrators for letting us come into the classroom as well as your support.” The winning essays are printed on page 8.

Winning D.A.R.E. essays

by Chloe Vernon, Fairfax

As you grow, you get to make more decisions. Sometimes, people make horrible choices, but also some good choices. This essay will hopefully represent what the consequences of drugs/alcohol can do to you.

For the few who don’t know, D.A.R.E. stands for: Drug Abuse Resistance Education. D.A.R.E. is a great way to learn to cope with stressful situations, and learn all about what the right thing to do is. I personally have never seen a drug (Other than cigarettes), except medical drugs/in movies. I will never do drugs, and I will never try alcohol until I turn 21. Even then, I still promise to never become an alcoholic.

What I understand/know about drugs is quite a lot, especially for my age. But since both my parents were law enforcement, they both, along with Deputy Sons, have taught me the dangers of drugs. A drug is any substance other than food or water that can affect the way your brain works. A single cigarette has over 200 known toxic chemicals, and most likely has more. Even when violence comes into the picture, I have learned/know how to defend myself.

Making good decisions is essential, but also sometimes hard to do. In D.A.R.E., you learn how to make good choices. In the D.A.R.E. work book, it has little stories/situations that can help you learn to make decisions (preferably good ones). Say a man, maybe 45-47 years old, walks up to you in the parking lot. He offers you a little bag of weed/cocaine. What do you do? How do you answer? Try changing the subject, or, just scream “NO!” We have been taught how to deal with situations like those.

I have learned a lot in D.A.R.E., and I plan on using all of my knowledge in the future that I’ve learned. Like I said before, I vow to never use drugs. Ever. I hope that you won’t either.

by Mya Welch, Rock Port

D.A.R.E. is a program that will allow students to learn how to say no to drugs and alcohol. These substances affect every part of you, they can make you terribly ill, and can even be life threatening. Cigarettes do the same thing. People might tell you it’s cool to do drugs, but it isn’t. They can cause diseases that can be deadly, they can slow your reaction time, and affect so much more than just that. Cigarettes can ruin your lungs, making it difficult to breathe. These substances can kill your brain cells, which never regenerate, unlike blood cells. These drugs and other substances can ruin your life, but D.A.R.E. can teach you how to have a safe and healthy life.

I have learned many useful things about drugs and how to say no to them. I have learned how to most effectively say no to drugs and what they do to some of our most vital organs, including the brain, lungs, and heart. I have learned that if you come back with a fact about drugs to someone who asked you to do some with them, and that fact is negative, most likely they won’t ask twice. I have learned that if a friend of yours uses drugs, and abuses them, there is a high chance that they won’t be around forever, so you shouldn’t get too used to having them with you. We also learned about the D.A.R.E. Decision Making Model, and how to use it to make safe and responsible choices. We also learned that not all consequences are bad, and that there are good consequences.

One very important thing that I have learned in D.A.R.E. is the D.A.R.E. Decision Making Model. The Decision Making Model helps people to make safe decisions, and helps people decide whether a decision is going to have good or bad consequences. It also helps people clear their head and not make decisions powered by anger or fear. Everyone, whether they realize it or not, uses the Decision Making Model in their lives, almost every day. Take cleaning your room for example. You think about whether it’s safe, or for everyone around you, and whether or not it will work. Then you must consider the consequences. There is more than just one kind of consequence. Most of us probably associate the word with punishment. Believe me, I do, but there are good consequences. Like, the consequence of breaking a vase or something, now that’s negative consequences you’re thinking, but the consequence of cleaning the house might be you receiving ice cream. Now, back to the Decision Making Model. I have used the Decision Making Model. Once, I was supposed to clean my room. Then I thought about how my iPad was right in the living room. It was so close, but then I thought about whether it was safe. It was so I was still revving to go. Then I thought if it was safe for those around me. Again, it was so it was fine with me, and I knew it would work, since my mom wasn’t home. Yet I hadn’t considered the consequences. They were the kind you don’t want. That is why the Decision Making Model can help you. It not only helps you make safe decisions, it helps you make decisions you will regret the outcome of.

I plan to use D.A.R.E. to make good decisions by using the Decision Making Model to make better and safer decisions. I can use this to choose a good job. I can use D.A.R.E. to decide what to do when I can’t. It can lead me in the right direction when it comes to choices. I can also use the DMM for much bigger things. Things that are more important than deciding if I should play a game or not. Things that could change my life in a huge way. I recommend doing D.A.R.E. in all schools, as along with the classes, it gives students a trusted adult who can help them solve these problems. I am going to remember D.A.R.E. for a very long time. One day I may even tell other people. This is a program that will survive far past my time. Anybody at any time can do these steps. This program is going to help people for many years to come.

In this essay I have told you many useful things, like the Decision Making Model, useful facts about drugs and why you shouldn’t do them, and even how I plan to use D.A.R.E. in the future. D.A.R.E. is going to help me make good choices now and throughout my life, and it will keep me from making decisions that I will regret later on. This program will help not only students, but also adults who struggle with drug problems. D.A.R.E. is a program that is able and willing to help people with drug addiction problems, and can help people make safe, healthy choices. D.A.R.E. is a program that I recommend all schools do. D.A.R.E., I feel, is not going to be something that I forget too easily. And I, Mya Welch, promise to do my best to lead a safe and healthy life, with no drugs outside of medical purposes affecting me or my body.

Hugs, NOT drugs

by Danika Agnew, Tarkio

Drugs, they are interesting, all the things they could do to you. Crazy how much damage one little thing might do to your body, your social life, your reputation, and especially your appearance. Why would you want to do that to yourself? I will tell you why NOT to do drugs. Do you even know what drugs do to your body? Well, I will tell you.

First off, if you abuse drugs it could cause irregular heartbeats, heart attacks, and even strokes! Also, if you do drugs while pregnant you could harm the baby, and possibly kill it. In fact, 110 newborns die within five years because of their mother abusing drugs. People also mainly overdose on synthetic opioids. Synthetic opioids are drugs that are not made with ANY natural ingredients. They are purely man made and are fifty times more powerful than any other kind of drug. But it doesn’t stop there, there is plenty more!

Do you know how they could effect your life? I will tell you. Drugs can, and will ruin your life. You might be wondering how. Well, for example, if you are doing illegal drugs and someone found out, they could tell the police and you could go to jail. If you didn’t already know, jail is not very fun. Another example of how drugs could ruin your life is that drugs can cause loss of teeth and even hair loss. You might get stared at or judged, or both! NO one will want to be around you if you look like your on drugs, and possibly addicted. They may think you are unsafe. Do you know what a drug addiction will lead to?

A drug addiction can possibly lead to an overdose, or you may start hanging around other drug addicts. They could ruin your social life or reputation. You will lose your teeth and hair if you take too many drugs, and you will most likely do more drugs if you are hanging around drug addicts. They could possibly get drugs that have even worse substances in them that you are not used to. If you take too much you won’t even realize it because to you, it’s just your regular amount. But you might take too much of the drug, because you didn’t know what was in there. You could overdose. That leads me to my conclusion.

If I have learned anything from D.A.R.E., it’s to always think for myself, and not let anyone talk me into doing something bad. Drugs are scary, but all you have to do is say no to them. I hope you have learned something from this, and remember, hugs. NOT drugs.

I, Danika Agnew, pledge to be drug free.

by Brylea Shrader, Rock Port

You might ask what is D.A.R.E.? Well D.A.R.E. is a program that keeps us all safe and teaches us how to go about different situations. Most importantly how to say no. Let me show you what I have learned from D.A.R.E. and how it helped me and will help me in the future.

I have learned many important things from D.A.R.E. such as alcohol and drug safety. Alcohol and drugs are any substance that is not food or water that affects the way your mind and body work. A couple more things I have learned from D.A.R.E. are making safe and responsible choices. If your friend asked you, “Hey, you wanna smoke one?” Would you take it? Are they even a friend? I wouldn’t take it and I would reassess who my friends are because D.A.R.E. taught me how to say no during pressured situations like these and realize who is a friend and who isn’t. You’re going to have to deal with peer pressure as long as you live. Peer pressure is when someone that is your age is pressuring you to do something that you don’t want to do.

I have used D.A.R.E. in real life situations. You can too. For example, my mom and stepdad were going to go to the lake during the Fourth of July, but my dad was having a Fourth of July party with some of his friends and their children. At that time I didn’t know what to do, because we were not in D.A.R.E. class yet. I ended up going to the lake. Now that I look back to that situation I have D.A.R.E. to help me figure it out, I might have to decide this year, so I can use D.A.R.E. to help. First I define the situation, so I ask myself, what are your problems? Then I ask myself to assess the situation, what are my choices? Next I respond, make a choice. Why choose one over the other. Lastly, I evaluate. I review the decision I have made. Is it the right choice? So from now on I can use D.A.R.E. to help me in any life situation that I will have to use those four steps.

I plan to use D.A.R.E. in the future by looking back to this year and asking myself, what all has D.A.R.E. taught me? These are all examples of what D.A.R.E. has taught me. First of all I have been taught how to make the right and responsible choices. This is very important because if you don’t know how to make the right decision, you will never know how if you don’t learn quickly. Another thing D.A.R.E. has taught me is how to say no to any drugs or alcohol. I know to say no because they affect you more than you know they do. Alcohol and drugs could put you on a road to failure because if you get too addicted no store would want a drug addict as an employee. D.A.R.E. has also taught me to know what is right and how to use my resources. I always plan to say no when someone is peer pressuring me to do something I don’t want to do. We were taught how to believe in yourself. That was a very important lesson because a lot of people shame themselves, and if you get taught this lesson you will learn that it’s ok to love yourself the way you are.

I make this pledge to let you all know that I will choose D.A.R.E. first in any difficult situation that occurs. I also want to let you know that I will always say no to drugs or alcohol. I want to be a high school D.A.R.E. role model, and I will be, because I believe in myself, always have, always will. So thank you D.A.R.E. for being a part of my life. This was definitely something that I needed.