GARY STUDENTS HEAR DANGERS OF DRUGS, ALCOHOL

Nurse Graphically Recounts Tragedies She Has Dealt With

Fifth- and sixth-graders in Gary's Franklin Elementary School
listened to a firsthand account of the dangers of drugs and alcohol.

The students gathered in the gymnasium to hear Glenda Brooks, a
registered nurse at The Methodist Hospitals in Gary, talk about the
many tragedies she has seen due to drug use. She told them about
various drugs and answered their questions about drug and alcohol use.

Brooks used graphic details about the aftermath of accidents caused
by people abusing drugs and alcohol. Her stories of mutilation and,
often, brain damage seemed to strike a chord with her young audience.

"I was totally shocked about how bad drugs are, how much damage can
happen and the things drugs will make you do," said sixth-grader
Ebony Cardine. "It gave me a whole change of heart."

Cardine, along with fellow sixth-graders Milynn Sims, Laura Webster
and Mahagonie Smith, opened the program by reading essays they wrote
on why they vow to live drug-free lives.

"I learned that if you get brain damage, you can't fix it," Sims
said. "If that happens to you, you should never have (used) drugs
and then you wouldn't have had that happen to you. You can't ever fix it."

Added Smith: "You can hurt your children. You can sell their clothes
and use your rent money to buy drugs and end up on the street, or
you can go to jail or die on the street and your children can get
hurt or die because they starve ... . That's what I wrote about in my essay."

Brooks was chosen by hospital officials to speak to the students
after Franklin personnel asked about providing a medical
professional to outline the dangers of drugs and alcohol.

A school survey of fifth- and sixth-graders showed that the students
believed they would benefit most from a professional who could speak
to them on the subject.

"This is the first community thing like this that I've done," Brooks
said. "When I was doing the research for this and I saw the numbers
for drug use for children over 12, I couldn't believe it.

"I thought to myself, 'We need to do something; we need to get out
there and educate.' "