ON THE SIDE, 1/16

Q&A

Cody Macaulay of Sierra Middle School in Parker is the winner of the
Deputy Ronald M. King Memorial Award as the Douglas County DARE
student of the year for his essay on resisting drugs and alcohol. He
participated in the program at Frontier Valley Elementary during the
2005-06 school year.

The award was presented last week at the DARE graduation ceremony at
Ponderosa High School.

Q: Tell me about your essay.

A: Well, my DARE essay came from the top of my head, so basically I
free-wrote the whole thing. Except I did look at my DARE book a
couple of times to help get my facts straight. At the bottom of the
essay, I wrote about a past run-in I had with drugs and how it
affected people I know in their lives.

Q: What did you get out of the DARE program?

A: I got a lot more than I thought I would, that's for sure. I didn't
know how bad drugs and alcohol really were until I finished the DARE
program. ... It's hard to believe that drugs and alcohol could kill
you. And also it's all the stuff they put in the drugs and alcohol.
I never really thought that a cigarette and a marijuana joint had so
much in them. It's just mind-blowing.

Q: Why do you think young people get into drugs and alcohol in the
first place?

A: I think that it's the parents that influence it, more than peer
pressure from people their age that think they know about drugs and
alcohol. They see their parents drink a glass of liquor and they
think that it doesn't hurt you, or they see their parents smoke a
cigarette and they think it won't hurt you. They don't see it as
something bad. They think it's OK to do it, just because their
parents do it.

Q: What do you think schools or adults could do to help keep kids off
drugs and alcohol?

A: I think that adults should be more careful on what they do in front
of their kids. What they see might reflect on what they'll do later
on. ... Schools should be more careful on what kids talk about in
school. You never know if someone is planning on smoking or drinking
or doing drugs after school. Teachers should know when a kid hasn't
slept or if their eyes are bloodshot or they keep sniffing and
coughing and or breathing heavily.