One motivation for kids in starting the Union Middle School
TREND chapter last year was to try to overcome a problem
for their home county. They knew Franklin County had been
ranked No. 1 in Missouri in number of illegal "meth" labs.
Megan Herbst |
Fourteen-year-old Megan Herbst said, "Our county doesn't
have a good reputation for drugs and meth. I thought, if
we taught kids early about the dangers, maybe they wouldn't
do drugs."
Megan will be a high school freshman this fall. Last school
year, she was one of 70 Union middle school kids who participated
in Ms. Tina Brueggemann's TREND group.
Many of those kids will be joining TREND at Union High
School. Many metro area schools sponsor TREND chapters to
help kids alert their classmates of the dangers of drugs,
alcohol and tobacco.
Sean Wood |
The Union kids are working this summer to prepare for TREND
programs next school year. Several attended a 2-day Teens
Against Tobacco Us (TATU) meeting last month.
Then, early this month, kids attended the Missouri Prevention
Leadership TREND conference in St. Louis. They will learn
seven educational strategies for curbing destructive behaviors
in kids.
Several of the Union TREND members said they felt their
first year activities did have an impact on curbing drug
and alcohol use.
Fourteen-year-old Sean Wood said his TREND work also had
an impact at home. "Since I joined TREND, my parents don't
drink as much and both stopped smoking," he said.
Natalie Randolph |
He said he was shocked when he saw pictures of lungs damaged
by smoking. "I didn't want anyone to have organs like that,"
he said.
Fourteen-year-old Natalie Randolph said she wanted to have
an influence on kids in the school. She said, "Family and
friends are very important to me. I don't want them to get
in trouble.
"Kids in the TREND chapter and in school are my friends.
I want to make sure they don't get in trouble either."
Tori Tappe |
Fourteen-year-old Tori Tappe said she felt the TREND chapter
had a "very big" impact on kids' attitudes about drugs and
alcohol. "I was amazed on how much can be done to change
attitudes," she said.
Fifteen-year-old Sam Mihlfeld said the chapter got good
receptions from other students for most of their programs.
"There were a few that didn't listen. But, they'll come
around," she added.
Sam Mihlfeld |
Sam, whose full first name is Samantha, said she's learned
a lot about how to resist peer pressure when someone suggests
she try drugs or alcohol.
She said she was attracted to TREND because Tori and Natalie
were her friends in school and they had joined.
The kids said they had fun both during the chapter meetings
and during efforts to tell other kids about the dangers
of drugs and alcohol.
One of the things that Ms. Bruggemann did at the beginning
of each meeting was to have some "icebreaker" activities.
These were designed to help the kids develop a sense of
togetherness before the serious part of the meeting started.
One of their favorites was making a "human table" with four
kids. Four of the chapter members would sit on chairs. Each
would lean back into the lap of another kid with arms interlocked
and feet on the floor.
Chairs were taken away. The teams competed to see which
would be last one to collapse.
Then, the kids would get down to the business of planning
anti-drug messages for the school.
In one program, Sean said he went to the sheriff's office
and brought back samples of the tubing and other equipment
collected from county "meth" labs. "We put it all in a wooden
coffin and then displayed it during Red Ribbon Week at the
school," he said.
Several of the kids said they'd like to have careers in
various helping professions.
Megan said she would be interested in working for the
Crider Center for Mental Health in St. Louis. She said,
"The center helps meet the needs of individuals in crisis."
Megan said she learned about the center when workers from
there came to the school.
Tori said she hopes to be involved in some type of animal
rescue occupation. She said she isn't interested in veterinary
medicine. "I just want to be involved in animal rescue,"
she said.
Natalie said, "I just want to be involved in helping people."
