FIFTH-GRADE KIDS LEARN ABOUT HIGH SCHOOL LIFE

EXETER - Do people really get shoved inside lockers at high school? Are
other students pushing them to try drugs all the time? What do you do if
you don't want to try drugs?

Fifth-graders at Lincoln Street School got answers to those questions and
others from those who know the truth - a group of students from Exeter High
School's Peer Outreach program. As part of the Drug Abuse Resistance
Education program (D.A.R.E.) at LSS, Detective Frank Winterer invited
several high-school students into classes last week to shed some light on
life after elementary school.

EHS juniors Marcelo Giundon and Ian Gurney, and senior Stefanie Simeone
spent time Friday in several fifth-grade classrooms, where they talked
about everything from homework to drugs to what they wanted to study in
college.

Students in Carol Simard's fifth-grade class had questions prepared
beforehand, which they all got a chance to ask. The first student asked the
three high schoolers how they felt when they said no to drugs.

"I was first asked to use drugs at a middle-school dance," Simeone said. "I
said, 'no, I'm not into that stuff' and the two girls walked away. I felt
really proud of myself that I said no."

Giundon said he has not been offered drugs. Several fifth-graders said they
were surprised, and relieved to hear that those pushing drugs would leave
after they said no.

"I think it kind of really surprised me because I didn't think these kids
said no to drugs that easily," said fifth-grader Kelsey Kimball, 11. "Now
that they said it was OK and now that I know they have a good life, I think
I'm kind of looking forward to middle school."

Another student asked the teenagers how they avoided the "bad crowd."

Gurney said he not only doesn't associate with those people but instead
seeks out others who have the same interests as he does, such as hiking and
being outdoors. Simeone agreed.

"If you hang out with your friends and your friends don't do it, you're
fine," she said.

Students also asked the teenagers why it was important for them to be drug-
and alcohol-free.

"Drugs can ruin your life, they can really bring you down," Giundon said,
adding that drugs would affect his ability to play soccer.

Simeone, a field hockey player, agreed. "You don't need that in your life
to be happy," she said.

Winterer asked the teenagers if they had seen any of their friends from
elementary school get into drugs. Simeone said she had. Several of the
girls she went to elementary school with and played basketball with have
gotten into drugs and she doesn't really talk to them any more.

"Now we're maybe on a 'Hi' basis and that's it," she said. "They don't do
well in school. They won't show up for class. All they do is do drugs, it's
really ruined their life. People definitely change."

Students wanted to know how many high school students really did drugs.
Winterer pulled out the results of a schoolwide survey from 2000, in which
students in middle and high school anonymously answered questions about
drug and alcohol use. According to the survey, 48 percent of high-school
students had tried alcohol at least once in a year, 35 percent had tried
smoking cigarettes, and 29 percent had tried marijuana.

Several fifth-graders were surprised by the number of students who had
tried drugs. Leslie Kanchuga said more people had tried drugs than she
thought. The high school students were asked what they did when they got
down about life.

"Even though you do get depressed about something, I get myself up and go
hang out with some of my friends," Gurney said.

Simeone said she lets herself get upset.

"I cry; I'm a very emotional person. It's sort of my way of letting my
emotions out," she said.

Guindon said he talks to his friends or family if he's having a problem or
upset.

Fifth-graders were also interested in how the homework was different at
high school. All three of the teenagers stressed that teachers gave them
longer to work on projects but didn't remind them about the due date.

"Your teachers aren't going to keep hassling you to make sure you're
working on it," Gurney said.

Simeone said she could remember what she thought high school would be like
when she was in fifth-grade.

"I was so scared to go to the middle school and high school. I thought I'd
be pushed into lockers," she said. "If you're just with your friends and
having a fun time, you're fine. You don't see drugs in school."

The high-school students' message had an impact on the kids.

"I thought it was pretty interesting and it will help me a lot when I get
into their grade," said fifth-grader Matt MacDonald.

Matt Consigli, 11, agreed.

"I think it was cool because they told us what it was like," Consigli said.