GRADE 7 STUDENTS IMPRESSED WITH STRAIGHT TALK

If a recent chat with eight Grade 7 students from Nesika and Glendale
elementary schools is any indication, students already know a lot
about drugs and alcohol from their families but still had more to
learn from their older peers.

Nesika students were first to be interviewed.

"There is a new type of drug I didn't know about. GHB. It really
messes you up," Riley Campbell said.

"It's a drug that can kill you," echoes her classmate Kayla Cahoose.
She explains that some people use it to make girls pass out and then,
she puts it gently. "They lose something."

Taryn Hilton said she learned about the other drugs from her older
siblings and parents but not about GHB, and date rape.

"I never new ice was a nick name for meth, I think," said River
Michalchuk. He says the message he got from the older students was
not to let people convince you to take drugs.

"Yeah!," said Devan Delisle. "I wouldn't take drugs but its kind of
hard not to drink when you are on a hockey team and older."

Generally the students liked the film and the presentation. "It
taught about peer pressure," Taryn said.

But she said the film didn't show them how exactly to say no to drugs
and alcohol and walk away because the girl in the film drank the
alcohol and passed out instead of walking away.

"It was awesome," Riley said of the film. But he said he still wasn't
sure if he would be any better prepared to deal with peer pressure
when he goes to high school next year.

A shy grandma and library aid who was working nearby the discussion
but didn't want to give her name, said she has seen the film and
liked it. "It was very well done and well acted so I think it should
help kids."

Nesika principal Mike Franklin said he believes the workshop was of
equal value to the elementary students who were learning about peer
pressure and the high school students who had the opportunity to
develop their leadership skills by giving the workshop.

Over at Glendale elementary three students also talked about what
they had learned.

"It was a really good film" Lyric Hill said. "I think the movie
helped a lot of us know a lot about what could happen later to our
family and friends and ourselves."

Lyric added: "We learned how to say no to peer pressure. Sometimes
peer pressure is hard because people don't understand why you are
saying no. You have to give good reasons. You can say it isn't cool,
or that you have something else to do -- other plans."

"Tell them its wrong," added Chay Keenan-Toop. Chay said he also
learned that people can take drugs in more ways than he thought they
could. He said he learned that more drugs can be sniffed than he
thought. "It doesn't sound very pleasant. They also told us about
places to get help and the kids help phone."

"Also in the workshop we learned how to tell our friends to get
help," Tiana Johnny added.

"It was interesting and highlighted some of the problems that could
come up in high school," Chay Keenan-Toop said. "the workshops were
interesting. We looked at problems and how to solve them in a fun way."

He said they did skits where one partner pretended to have a problem
with drugs and the other partner in the skit explained to him how he
should get help, and ask him what he had taken so he could get help for him.

Chay said his parents have always talked to him and answered his
questions about drugs and they've talked to him about how harmful
they can be and how they can shorten your life. "I've never thought
about doing drugs. They ruin your life. I figured that out anyway."

Lyric said she learned a lot about harmful drug use when she did a
speech on the subject of saying no when she was in Grade 5. She said
she also lived in Vancouver for three years where she has seen some
people on the streets who had ruined their health with drugs "They
looked horrible."

In the film she says the film showed how you could lose your friends
if you do drugs because other parents won't want their children
hanging out with kids who do drugs.

Chay s

Tiana said they also talked about diet pills and the pressure to be
thin to fit in and about being happy with who you are. "Try to be
yourself. You don't have to be like everybody else," Tiana said Lyric
said the high school student presenters were very nice and very
straightforward.

In the workshop, Chay said the presenters talked about how peer
pressure can push some students into suicidal thoughts, and people
may also become suicidal if they become addicted to a drug and then
want to quit but don't know how.

At the end Chay said they made a triangle and put everyone on it who
would be hurt if they died such as parents, brothers, sisters,
friends, pets, their doctors and nurses and teachers.

And they all agreed it was also a fun workshop.