Just say no,
just say no.
That's the theme woven throughout a song
written by the New Generation Band.
They practice in one of the seven
branches of the West Dallas Community
Centers. It's all part of the center's
drug education and prevention program.
You have, you know, something to do,
something to look forward to.
Like every week, you know, you just get
off the streets and away from the press.
You know, what we found is that a lot of
kids not in this, not just in west
Dallas, but all across the United States
are losing hope.
And we try to give them hope, not dope.
Do
the program dishes out hope early
in the form of alternatives to build
self-esteem and pride.
Fourth grader Moses Hernandez has
been using the center's computers for
four years to improve his spelling
work math problems and have a little fun.
He has not been tempted by drugs yet,
but the center has prepared him to say
no, even though, like his other
kids think it's cool and they want you
to do it, they say for
us not to do it, even though other people
are doing it. People have approached
going to do it.
But I'm just telling these teenagers
had all been confronted by that same
problem by the time they were 12.
Counseling sessions like this give them
a chance to talk about how to handle peer
pressure.
This drug prevention program works with
more than 600 young people
on a tram, 90000 dollar budget,
but then prevention is a lot cheaper
than treating a drug problem,
no matter where they
go, no matter how good it feels
when it comes to it.
Just I really want to be really
cool, stay awake and do your best in
school. Say no.
Ramona Logan, Channel 5 News, Dallas.