… to give a talk (I don’t have the ego to call it a lecture) on drinking & drugs for Red Ribbon Week.
It should be fun. You would not believe how sophisticated many of these kids are (or maybe you would).
No, I’m not a teacher, or cop, or nurse or whatever, but I am an expert in the field, if one can count a decades-long adventure with self-indulgement and hideous consequences expertise. Sober now, BTW, for a while.
This HS in SoCal is mostly Hispanic, black & Asian, lots of what are called “high risk” kids (not my view, but whatever). In reality, they are pretty smart, and just want someone to talk to them like people, not children.
So we give 'em the straight dope (so to speak) on whatever subjects they ask us about. It’s a great way to be of service, and if only one kid gets something out of what I say, then it was worth it. Actually, it is worth it even if no kid gets anything out of it, because I get a lot.
Must dash, will let y’all know if anything funny, exciting or scary happens!
I am glad you are taking an interest in these children. Hopefully your experience will help someone. Congrats on getting your life together. I am looking forward to hearing your experience at school.
Well, that was fun. I did a panel with 2 guys, one a rock-n-roller of some note. It was a good morning, the kids were great.
Some of the urban legends they hear about drugs are pretty funny. One girl asked if taking ecstacy wrecks your uterus, which of course made the guys think, “hell, what do I need a uterus for?” It’s interesting to see that they think all of “their” drugs are so new & different- crack (was freebase), ecstacy (was MDA), etc. The same old stuff comes around again and again. Just like the old dopers telling us kids in the 80’s that we didn’t know what REAL LSD & pot were.
That sounds like it was a wonderful experience. It must be nice to know that you are making a difference. But, it also seems like you benefited from the experience. I am encouraged that you are taking a negative experience and turning it into a positive. Good luck.
