Smack In Suburbia

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A challenging situation at my high school has been handling the drug abuse epidemic in our community. Unfortunately, my hometown of Avon Lake has had many young people die from heroin overdoses. My 24 year old neighbor overdosed a few years ago and I witnessed how his death devastated his parents.
The drug epidemic has continued to plague my community and recently my high school was part of a BBC documentary “Smack in Suburbia -- America's Heroin Crisis”. The documentary takes a heart-wrenching look at the effects of heroin addiction in Lorain County, specifically in Avon Lake. It shows a student at my high school admitting to snorting Oxycontin off a table in our school library! The documentary was an embarrassing yet, eye opening experience for our high school administrators. They have become more focused then ever before to bring awareness to the drug problem in our community.Therefore, when my High School Counselor asked if I would be willing to be an officer for the Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) I was very willing to participate. SADD is a school based organization that addresses the destructive decisions that young people may be tempted to make. The organization’s mission is to provide …show more content…
I have worked to help develop engaging programs that promote SADD’s message to our students. I have helped increase the enrollment in our SADD chapter at ALHS. I recently led “The Chain of life Project” which asked students to write a pledge to not do drugs. This activity helped us bring awareness to the growing drug problem in our community. Many students have verbalized feeling relieved to have positive peer pressure of SADD because it is leading them to a healthier lifestyle. I am hopeful that my work as a SADD advocate at ALHS will have lasting affects on the fight against destructive decisions among my

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