Ellie Won!

Do you know what D.A.R.E. is?  I'm not sure if it's a national thing- but here its a big deal.  It's a program the kids go through in 5th grade to teach them about drugs and alcohol.  The deputies come do it with the kids, and they do a great job.  Anywho- Ellie won the Essay contest in her class!  Yea! Way to go Ellie- she is such a sweety!  You may or may not know that Darren's dad was killed by a drunk driver when he was 2.  She wrote a little bit about it.   Here it is...  

Did you know that smoking can give you a hairy tongue? Or that chewing tobacco can result in loosing part of your tongue and jaw? Or that Alcohol can give you brain damage? These are some of the things that I learned in DARE.  Well, I learned a lot more, but here are some of the things that really stood out.

Chewing Tobacco can cause mouth cancer, tooth loss, and other health problems.  More than 400,000 die from tobacco related causes each year.  In the United States it is illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone who is under the age of 18.  Nicotine in cigarettes and chewing tobacco reduces the amount of blood that flows to the brain.  This messes up the way the brain works. Nicotine is also addicting.  So even if you want to stop- it is really hard.  Chewing tobacco is disgusting. 

Nicotine is also in cigarettes.  There are more than 200 known harmful chemicals in cigarettes.  Cigarettes are so bad  that they even harm the people around them.  That is called second hand smoke.  Almost 50,000 deaths per year can be attributed to second hand smoke.   Smoking causes heart disease and lung cancer.  Smoking can actually give you more snot.  It can also yellow your teeth and cause bad breath.  Because it dries your skin and causes wrinkles it makes you look older.  If you want to look good in life- obviously you should stay away from smoking!  

Alcohol slows down the brain and the body.  Effects may include, loss of coordination, poor judgment, memory loss.  Loss of self control, and slow reflexes.  Alcohol weakens the heart muscles, reduces the amount of blood pumped to and from the heart.  Too much alcohol can slow down the body and lead to a coma and death.  Alcohol is illegal under the age of 21.  There are 75,000 alcohol related deaths each year in the US.  I think that alcohol is very scary and dangerous.  I absolutely hate alcohol.  When my real grandpa was 33 years old he was riding a motorcycle down the road.  A drunk driver driving a big truck  hit him head on.  My grandpa did not survive the crash.  My dad was 2 years old when his dad was killed by a drunk driver.  He had an older brother who was 4 years old and is scarred.  His mom was pregnant with my aunt Erica.  It was really hard for my grandma.  She was left alone to have a baby and raise 3 kids without a dad.  She did end up getting remarried.  And I really like my grandpa now.   It makes me so sad, and nervous. It is indescribable how sad I am that anyone would want to drink and drive.  I have never been able to meet my grandpa, and my dad doesn't really remember him.  So my dad can't tell me anything about my grandpa.  And my grandma never wants to talk about it.  It makes me so sad I don't know my grandpa.  Imagine if you never got to meet your grandpa.  You wouldn't know if he was nice, or mean, or if he never even liked to talk much.  One persons bad decision to drink and drive 36 years ago still affects our family today.  That is why I hate alcohol even more than smoking. 

This is why I love the DARE program.  It tells kids that this stuff is bad.  It is real and really hurts people.  It tells us that this is NOT ok.  I don't want other people to go through what my grandma, dad, his brother, sister, me and my brothers have all gone through. PLEASE don't ever drink and drive.   I hope that everyone listened carefully to my essay.  I hope that you will all grow up to be great people that don't drink and drive or smoke or do drugs.  Thank you.  Ellie Ernst