MIAMI-DADE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

School Anti-Drug Club Brings The Drama

A drug-free club in schools across Miami-Dade held parties, rallies,
dramatizations and trivia games for Red Ribbon Week, to increase
teens' awareness of the dangers of substance abuse.

The door to Aaron Tucker's English class flew open, dispersing a
chilly fog while a high-pitched voice ululated mournfully in the background.

The Grim Reaper stepped in through the fog and paced before a circle
of students, eventually choosing a girl. She shrieked, kicking as he
picked her up and took her outside, returning for one more "victim."

Junior Brian Santana, president of Miami Beach High's chapter of
DFYIT (Drug Free Youth In Town) told his classmates that every 33
minutes someone dies in an alcohol-related motor vehicle accident,
adding that on any given weekend one in 10 drivers has been drinking
or using drugs.

"This is an excellent way for kids to get the message of how easy and
random it is to become a statistic," said Shelby Hamm, the school's
trust counselor.

Last week's Reaper dramatization was part of X-Week, five days of
drug-awareness activities organized by DFYIT in observance of Red
Ribbon Week, the nation's oldest and biggest drug education campaign,
begun in 1985 after drug dealers murdered DEA agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena.

The activities and materials were color-coded by drug, with orange
for over-the-counter and prescription medicines, red for alcohol,
green for marijuana, purple for club and "hard" drugs like heroin and
cocaine, and blue for inhalants.

Amanda Durst, a program specialist for DFYIT, said the organization,
founded in 1992 at Homestead High, currently has 63 chapters in
middle and high schools across Miami-Dade.

"We do have some chapters in Broward schools, but not as many," she
said, adding that DFYIT in Broward is a separate entity. "We are
planning to combine both organizations soon."

At Lamar Louise Curry Middle in West Kendall, students danced, goofed
off and took turns spinning the Wheel of Misfortune, a drug trivia
game, at an anti-drug rally in the school cafeteria.

The kids began hooting and hollering when seventh-grader Beatrice
Correa spun the wheel, landing on the space for marijuana.

Durst asked her to name any one of marijuana's wide array of street
names. "Weed," she said, her cheeks turning bright pink. Other kids
supplied their own answers, like ganja and chronic.

"What are some of the negative things marijuana does to you?" Durst
asked Beatrice.

Before she could answer, a boy in the crowd blurted that "it makes
your breath smell bad." Another boy jumped in, assuring his
classmates that smoking weed "gives you brain problems."

At Southridge High in southern Miami-Dade, students in X-Week
T-shirts filmed their own "public service announcements."

Each video told a story, related to one of the featured drugs, which
was cut off close to the end, with the narrator referring the viewer
to the X Week website, where the stories concluded.

"Before I knew it, I was in the bathroom puking out my guts," said
junior Chris Richardson in a video about the dangers of inhalants.
"Tommy was lying on the floor. At first I thought he was joking
around. . . . I started yelling his name and shook him a few times,
but he wouldn't wake up."

Southridge counselor Miriam Perez said about 200 students in her
school belong to DFYIT, which has about 7,000 members countywide.
Hamm said that DFYIT membership at Miami Beach High is at about 68, and rising.

Myriaha Diaz, 15, one of the white-faced "dead" Miami Beach students,
doesn't need anyone to tell her how dangerous it is to drive drunk.

"My older brother Paulie was in an accident with a drunk driver," she
said, almost in a whisper. "He's going to be in a wheelchair for the
rest of his life."

Perez said that DFYIT members are proud of their drug-free lives and
are happy to submit to the club's requisite drug tests.

"A girl who had used drugs came and asked me if it was too late to
join," Perez said. "I told her it's never too late."