Many kids during the course of high school go through peer pressure. Some regret it, and for some, it's too late. I have interviewed some guys and girls at Progress High. This is what three kids have to say...
Anonymous Student #1:
Well, I have met a lot of friends through my freshman year in Progress, and I have to say they were not what I thought they were. At first we would hang out and chill. We hung out at the park near the school, and I would play basketball, but they would smoke a blunt and get high. I didn't mind because they respected that I was into my sport. But soon they would start smoking and get aggressive. They once wanted to force me to smoke it, but since they were high, they didn't have much strength, and I just brushed them off. It wasn't the same ever since...I hate people forcing me to do what I don't want to. I'm not aggressive, but I can be when I feel threatened. I think a person shouldn't get involved in a situation they don't want to be in.
Anonymous student #2:
Yeah, it's true. People put a lot of pressure on you when you're in high school. My parents want me to be a good student, and I want a better life than the ghetto. I don't want to get involved in none of that. I know I'm a better person, and I can achieve more than that.
I was involved in a few activities that weren't necessary...I smoked a blunt a week. Then 2. Until it was every day. It felt good--that's what they told me. They said, "Come on, girl. You'll be feeling smooth and it's the best." I was dumb to try it. But once I was in, it was hard to get out. I was involved, and it became a habit. It relieved me somehow, and I felt like it was my refuge. I felt the soft caress of the smoke when I puffed. My supposed "friends" offered it to me, and I was set. But they wouldn't smoke with me. They would watch how I was slowly drowning in my own smoke and didn't say a word. It seemed like they were kind of happy to see that I was worse than they were. I soon noticed and stopped. It wasn't so hard to stop. I didn't pay much mind. Soon my friends told me I was changing. The only thing I said was that I was above the influence and walked away. I still say "What's up?" to them, but I pay them no mind. No, they're all just bad memories of the past.
Anonymous student #3:
All I have to say is that I know what it's like to be broken down and into the habit of doing drugs. I have been in and out, and now I reminisce and see how stupid I was--how I was so stupid, I let people pull me down and make me just like them. Nobodies. I was just a part of a crowd. A part of nothings. I made a change while I was in rehab...Yeah, I was in rehab because I wanted to change--be someone my momma would be proud of, get outta my low money situation and the rough living conditions. I was down and dirty. Now, I'm up and clean. Don't be nobody. It ain't cool. Ya dig?
A poem dedicated to those who were almost under the influence:
Here it goes, here it came
No one's left to blame
But myself, me, only me
Why don't the people see?
Although I might be rude or violent
They don't know what's happenin, why I'm silent...
My windows, full of grease, I smell the food my momma's cookin
The teacher calls my name, but I ain't lookin
Nobody will pull me down
I am above...I'm king, so where's my crown?
I lost it while I was messin up
But my momma taught me better than to give up!
I was under the influence--now I'm above
To all my "friends" who introduced me to the habit
Just remember the turtle was faster than the rabbit
Just like that--now I'm clean
I'm in school, my smile is true
Trust nobody but you.
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