Students hear hard truth about drugs

Danette Goulet

NEWPORT BEACH -- The students were shocked to learn what drugs can do

to the human brain.

Nearly 100 children and their parents on Thursday heard results of the

latest research on the damage various drugs do to one’s gray matter.

“I thought it was scary, about how they said drugs could make your

brain tell your body to shut down,” said 11-year-old Alicia Plecas, who

is in the sixth grade at Mariners Elementary School.

Alicia referred to a video shown at an anti-drug assembly held at her

school for students of Mariners, Kaiser and Newport Heights elementary

schools.

The video was about a boy named Randy who died from mixing cocaine and

alcohol. That combination can cause the brain to begin instructing the

body’s organs to shut down.

It was just one of several graphic slides, videos and descriptions

depicting the reality of drug use.

“I thought it was interesting and really kind of surprising with the

stuff they were talking about, what it could do to you,” said Jacque

Steve, 11.

Families also heard one woman’s horror story of watching her son die

of heroin abuse.

Judy Davis told the students about the death of her son, Bobby, with

the hope that sharing her heartbreaking story will prevent others from

experiencing it themselves.

“That was so sad, her story,” said Sharon Stewart, who has two

daughters, one at Kaiser and another at Newport Harbor High School. “But

I guess that was the point.”

Stewart had planned on attending the talk with her daughter, Melissa,

a sixth-grader at Kaiser, where they promoted the evening’s events.

But when she heard the reason for bringing the talk to the younger

students -- that students at Newport Harbor High said the lecture was too

late for them -- she dragged her 14-year-old along, too.

The third portion of the evening gave audience members a break from

the shock factor and attempted to offer some solutions.

Bill Serry, a family counselor who also addresses special needs and

drug problems at Corona del Mar High School, spoke about the emotional

effects of drugs. He explained to the students that it’s normal to feel

down sometimes.

FYI

Family counselor Bill Serry will present The Parent Project, a free

workshop sponsored by the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, on Nov.

7.

For more information, call 1-800-892-5558, Ext. 89328.