During the last nine weeks of the 2009 and 2010 school year, we had D.A.R.E with Deputy Thomas. We learned many ways drugs were bad for you. In this essay I will explain what we did in D.A.R.E and how much I learned from it.

Something we learned in D.A.R.E about alcohol was that too much of it can slow the body and lead to coma or death. Something else about alcohol is that it can damage every organ in your body and it can hurt or kill people that weren’t even drinking.

One of the things we did in D.A.R.E  that was fun and related to alcohol was the D.U.I goggles. We had to walk in a straight line and then catch a ball that Deputy Thomas would throw to us. I think that this was one of the best moments in D.A.R.E. Everyone had a lot of fun! The D.U.I goggles made stuff look sideways, blurry, and everything was just plain off. The point of the goggles was to show us what it would feel like to be drunk. And from that, I absolutely know that I’m not going to drink and drive.

Also in D.A.R.E, we learned about tobacco and cigarettes.  We learned that over 400,000 people die each year from tobacco-related causes. Another thing is that smoking can make your teeth yellow and cause your breath to smell. A thing we did in D.A.R.E that was related to tobacco and cigarettes was that Deputy Thomas brought in Smoking Susie and her boyfriend, Mr. Dip-lip. These were sort of carton characters brought to life. They were to show us what our mouth would look like if we chewed dip and to show us how cigarettes could damage our lungs if we smoked. Both of them were a big hit.

Pretty recently in D.A.R.E was the D.A.R.E  Family Feud game. We separated into four groups and Deputy Thomas would go to each group and would ask us a question and we had 30 seconds or so to talk it over with our group and then answer. While doing that, it really refreshed my memory of what we learned through D.A.R.E.

Those are just a few things about how fun D.A.R.E was. And over all, I absolutely loved D.A.R.E! It was super fun all the time and I learned a lot too. And on through my life, I pledge to never let peer pressure get to me and to never even think about doing drugs, drinking alcohol, or smoking.