FORT BENNING, Ga., (Nov. 6, 2013) -- It wasn't ghouls and goblins that scared Faith Middle School students on Halloween -- it was images of people who put harmful chemicals in their bodies. During Red Ribbon Week, students attended Linda Dutil's Dose of Reality assembly, which literally showed what drugs and alcohol can do to the body.
Dutil, an emergency department nurse from Maine, travels around the country teaching students about the dangers of harmful substances.
"The pictures were really nasty," Angelica Chandler, an eighth-grader, said. "Drugs can make you look really old. I thought the program was a very good lesson for some people who are thinking about doing drugs."
The program included student interaction. Jonathan Myrthil, a seventh-grader, was one of the students to participate on stage. During the scene, Dutil explained how emergency hospital staff pumped toxic substances out of the body by using a tube that goes down the nose. Jonathan was chosen to play the patient.
"If it was for real I would have been scared," he said. "But yet, I would know that they were trying to get the poison out of my stomach. I would never (use) alcohol or any drug because I would hate to put that tube up my nose."
Students also participated in other activities, including a school wide anti-drug banner and poster contest.
"We want everyone to know that drugs are really bad. You don't need them," Angela said about the purpose of the contest. She and her partner won first place.
The students had many reasons why they wouldn't do drugs.
Sixth-grader Brendan Kepley recalled a story of an 18-year-old football player getting in trouble for drinking underage.
Brendan said he didn't like the way drugs could affect his appearance -- but mostly what it could do to his body.
"You lose cells in your brain so when you lose that you can't think very well," he said. "And that's really a problem for me because I like my brain. It's the best organ in my (body)."
Cristina Concepcion, seventh-grader, said she showed her sisters photos of those damaged by drugs, and like the others participated in the poster contest to teach other children not to do drugs.
"They won't have an education, they will end up in the streets and have to ask people for money," she said, adding drugs ruins your life.
"Do it at your own risk and if you do -- don't blame anybody but yourself," Jonathan said.
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