I Dare You....

I dare you to be kind,
Respect your mom and dad.

I dare you not to harm your mind,
Or make your loved-ones sad.

I dare you to be thankful,
For what God gave to you.

I dare you not to be useful,
To drugs that make you be untrue.

I dare you to learn a lesson,
Of never taking drugs.

I dare you not to cave in,
Or pass out on a rug.

I dare you to be faithful,
To thine own self be true.

I dare you not to be full
Of a life that makes you blue.

By Maggie

The Girl

She thought she was so cool,
When she was nothing but a fool.

All she had was plans after school,
Getting high and wasting time.

Thinking life's a joke,
As she stands with her friends and smokes.

Although she acts so popular,
Inside she is so lost.

For anyone who thinks getting high is the way to go,
Those are the people I care not to know.

Maybe there's hope for such a young girl,
Who could have so much to offer in this beautiful world.

As for myself I will live a clean life,
And never take my body for granted.

So take my advice and never think twice.
Stay away from drugs and you'll live a great life.

By Cassidy

Drugs

You will not succeed in school,
If you think that drugs are cool.

They can hurt your friends and you,
I'm not lying this is true!

If you're asked to take a sniff,
Be assertive, not scared stiff!

Say, "I'm sorry, but I shan't,
I would rather eat eggplant!"

If you drink and then you drive,
Someone's life you may deprive!

Meth makes you high,
If you take it, you can die!

If you want to take steroids,
Don't, because you'll be destroyed!

Now you've seen my point of view,
I choose no drugs, but do you?

By Betsy

Don't smoke anything,
For your life shortens up,
You might cough a whole bunch,
And you get hooked and can't stop.

You get black teeth,
Your breath starts to stink,
And nobody wants to be around you,

You'll waste tons of money,
For now cigarette prices have gone real high,
Marijuana is against the law
So definitely don't smoke that.

There is many good reasons,
Not to smoke anything,
It's a good thing not to smoke,
You'll live a healthy long life
Without smoking in your life.

By Lisa
Age 11

HERE ARE MY WAYS TO SAY NO TO DRUGS

1. I AM DRUG FREE.
2. LEAVE ME ALONE
3. IT' S BAD FOR ME
4. I WANT TO LIVE
5. I DON'T WANT TO DIE
6. I HATE CIGARETTES
7. I HATE DRUGS
8. STAY AWAY
9. DRUGS KILL
10. I DON'T NEED TO GET SICK
11. NO THANKS
12. I DON'T NEED DRUGS TO BE COOL
13. I AM TOO BUSY
14. GET A LIFE
15. JUST SAY NO!

THOSE ARE MY WAYS TO SAY NO!!!!

DRUGS CAN KILL YOUR ORGANS
RESTRAIN YOUR ABILITY TO THINK
USAGE CAN GIVE YOU AIDS IF YOU SHARE NEEDLES
GRANT YOU NOTHING

UNABLE TO FUNCTION
STUPID AND CRAZY LIFE
AT NO TIME CAN YOU JUST STOP
GIVES YOU BODY NO CHANCE TO LIVE A GOOD LIFE
EVERYDAY THINK OF 2 REASONS YOU SHOULD NOT USE DRUGS

STILL IT IS YOUR LIFE AND I CAN'T TELL YOU HOW TO LIVE

By Hope
Age 12

Rumors

Rumors are something said to hurt someone.
Rumors are plain and simply rude.

Rumors are inconsiderate and unkind.
Rumors are spread from someone who thinks they're being cool.

Anyone who spreads a rumor about someone is just spreading a rumor about themselves.

By Annette
Age 18

One Simple Verse

One Simple Verse
to please the heart,
just write it down
and make it smart.
Don't Smoke
it's bad for you,
because when you smoke
you choke and when you choke you die.
So be smart and take my advice don't smoke!

By Carli
Age 10

DRUG FREE

DARE IS IMPORTANT TO ME
CAUSE DRUG FREE IS THE WAY TO BE

I DON'T DO ANY TYPE OF DRUG
CAUSE IF I RUN TRACK IN THE FUTURE
I WILL BE AS SLOW AS A SLUG

IF YOU CHOOSE TO BE DRUGGY
I DON'T CARE
CAUSE I'M DRUG FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you smoke pot,
your teeth will rot.
Kids think drugs are cool,
so they bring them to school.

They don't care they will probably die,
They think it's just going to pass by.
Drugs will mess with your head,
As quick as you'll find yourself dead.

Using dope will make you a dope.
I hope you don't or won't do drugs,
They are the same as pesky bugs.

D I won't do drugs.
A Won't have an attitude.
R I will respect myself.
E I will educate me.

I wrote this poem for my father who had lung cancer and died from it this past summer, that is my reason for not doing drugs.

"All drugs are bad," the DARE officer said.
"Marijuana to Heroin: they're all the same,
They'll mess up your head."

Few kids listen, government studies show.
Compared to students who skip DARE,
Graduates are no more likely to Just Say No.

I know kids who've smoked pot.
Lost their financial aid, ended up in jail
Once they were caught.

It was the laws
That shattered their lives,
That's why I support the anti-drug war cause.

By Scarlett
Age 18

When you lungs turn black, they never turn back.
When you mind has gone, you know it was wrong.
You'll never see what real life can be.
D.A.R.E. is smart, it will keep you and drugs apart.
I would never do drugs and lose my life,
Because to stay drug-free will keep me happy.
Life can be more than a drunk on the floor,
So live you life without the strife.
I'd rather live free, than live in agony.
Drugs are so bad
You'll find they'll make you mad.
So please take my advice and always think twice.
If it was up to me the world would be drug-free.

By Danielle

Self-esteem

I think people do drugs because they don't have high Self-esteem. It may be peer pressure. But I think it's low self-esteem. People with low self-esteem don't care about their body. Most kids my age should know drugs can harm their body, because in 5th grade we have D.A.R.E (drug, abuse, resistance, education), and it teaches us things we don't know about such as gangs, Drugs (of coarse), alcohol. If you get in the gang you won't be able to get out with out getting killed. That's just the way it is, and I hate that way. If you don't want to get killed be like me and stay drug free and be cool and stick with the rules and remember drug free is the way to be.

By Deaundra
Age 11

I love DARE.

DARE is my favorite subject. In this essay, I will tell you about how I feel about DARE, what I've learned in DARE, why I think it's important to be drug-free and to avoid violence, and why I love DARE. I feel that the DARE program is a great way to increase non-smokers, and to decrease smokers, drinkers, people who drive after they drink, people who join gangs or want to a gang, and people who take part in violence. I feel that the DARE program is a great way to influence people to not smoke, drink and drive, drink, join gangs, and to not to take part in violence. I've learned that people who take drugs end up getting lung cancer or even die. Drugs also mess up your mind and brain. They affect the way you act and think. If you take drugs it is very hard to quit. Your health just gets worse and worse as time goes by. I also learned how to say "no" 8 different ways when asked to take drugs and when asked to take part in drugs, gangs, and/or violence.

I think that the DARE program is very important. DARE teaches you why you shouldn't take drugs, drink, and get involved in violence and gangs. DARE is so important to me. DARE is fun, educational, and I love it!!

That is my DARE essay. I didn't win out of my class but I think it would be good to put on your website.

By Taylor
Age 11

DARE, A WAY TO PROTECT CHILDREN FROM DRUGS AND ALCOHOL

For the past 20 years drugs and alcohol use has increased tremendously! Many young children are using drugs and acting very violent to others! Many schools are having bomb threats and kids are bringing guns and weapons to school. So the DARE (Drug Abuse Residence Education) program is very critical to classroom learning you also learn how to control your self under pressure and stress. As a person you have to be aware of your surroundings, and how your peers act! I think DARE is a great tool. In the future going through DARE class will help you live your life happier and safer! If you believe in yourself you can do anything. Now why would you want drugs from keeping you from achieving your goals!

Going into 7th grade I was really nervous! I didn't want to go to a new school yet alone a school that had high school students! I would be going from being the oldest kids in the school, to being the youngest kid in the school! Mainly I was afraid of the teenagers, they are so big and must of them use drugs, or so I thought. But, studies show that only 15% of all teenager's actually use drugs! After learning that in DARE, I wasn't that scared any more, but I was also afraid that I would still be pressured to try drugs, and I wouldn't know how to respond to the pressure! When my class began to start a program called DARE. I learned I was not the only one feeling the same way about going to MVU!

In DARE we learned how to deal with peer pressure and how to respond to different kinds of pressure like friendly pressure, Heavy pressure, indirect pressure, and teasing peer pressure! I also learned all the names of the drugs and what they will do to you! I was amazed the effects drugs can have on you! For example every time you smoke you lose 2 minutes or your life. If you smoke Tobacco or even use Tobacco your teeth will turn yellow and you won't be able to breath as hard, you can get cancer, die young, and buying this drug is expensive! When you drink alcohol you have a chance of becoming drink and you lose your coordination, you can't remember anything, you increases accidents, and become violent to others! When you smoke Marijuana, you lose your memory, have slow reflects, short attention spans, and the inability to think. Before DARE began I didn't know that. Did you?

Drugs have a big effect on your life. Drugs control you, drugs force you to make choices you may never would have chose to do before you were hooked on drugs! Middle school through high schools are the most important times in your life yet alone probably the funniest too! When you use drugs people form impression on you, maybe they aren't true? Only you know. Usually if you do drugs and act violent people assume you are in a "gang"! Staying drug free is so important because you need to make your own decisions (mother earth doesn't give up easy) and try your hardest, even if you don't like school! Drugs don't solve your problems you do!

After going through every DARE class I have learned that you can achieve anything if you try your hardest! DARE is so important when it comes to how you want to live your life and to what you contribute to man kind, that's your decision if you stay drug free or if you do chose to use drugs. Like I said earlier Kids are getting into drugs and violence at a very young age. Some kids join gangs because they want to be cool or impress someone. Many kids drop out of school and depend on drugs to keep them alive! I really think this program can reduce that number to a smaller size in the future! I advise every student to go through DARE and learn all the dangers of Drugs and Alcohol, I bet you change your mind on how you chose to live your life! I know drugs aren't for me! I hope to see the DARE program expand in the future! I also think that the government should contribute some money to the DARE program, because DARE is saving all our young children! Remember stay drug free and stay in school!

By Ashley