Is Marijuana Really Harmless?

One of the most common questions I hear in the classroom is, “Marijuana is harmless, so why is it illegal?” Somewhere along the way it has been communicated to our youth that marijuana is not addictive and has no side-effects, therefore being harmless. There is more and more scientific research that confirms the dangers of marijuana as you can read in this article. Our job as educators will be to present the facts amidst the array of media and peer’s misinformation.

http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-895582

PEER Leader’s Sibling Remembered

Sarah Crane was an amazing young women who exemplified vision and passion. She believed that young people, no matter what their age, can change their community and nation for the better. Sarah wrote on her blog one day, “I want to change the world and you know what? I just might do it.” Sarah’s two sisters, Kylee and Allyson were both PEERS Project Leaders in Elkhart School Corporation encouraged to be a leader because of the model their sister set. “I feel sorry for people who didn’t know the healthy (Sarah), just the sick one. (Her) spirit was still the same, but they only got a glimpse of (her),” Kylee, Sarah’s sister  wrote in a blog post. “The Sarah whose smile could light up a whole room in a second. The Sarah who could make anyone laugh.”

Please read more of Sarah’s story and battle here: http://www.elkharttruth.com/article/20131210/NEWS01/712099977

sarahstrong
The PEERS Project Leader’s Remember Sarah Crane

Do 21st Century youth want “old fashioned” values?

It has been said that 21st century youth are looking for values that were priorities 100 hundred years ago. Why do you think this is? I personally think this is due to the pendulum swinging so far away from conservative values that youth are rejecting the egregious display of virulent behavior they are bombarded by.
The internet has allowed us to see, know and understand just about everything under the sun. Rather than embracing this as liberating it has become debilitating.
This following commentary from Matt Walsh’s blog paints this picture

Reality T.V. , Helpful or Hurtful?

You have seen the “ridiculousness” of most reality TV shows, but why do some people, especially teens, still choose to watch them? Reality TV is a very narrow peek into the lives of people who have an unrealistic reality, in fact, most of their lives are written by a producer. These cast members are to do one thing with those lives, make sure it is drama filled so that they make money through that drama. The reputation of most reality TV show cast members is demolished by the finale of their first season. Honestly, the problem lies not only with the producers or cast members, but the audience. It is the audience that allows these shows to have numerous amounts of views. The audience are the people unintentionally saying to those cast members and producers, “Ignorance is bliss, so keep at it!” But their ignorance shouldn’t be bliss, it is disturbing and degrading, not only for them, but to the audience that they are targeting. Take for instance the 16-year-old girl who thinks she is not pretty enough, and watches a reality TV show for the first time and instantly gets hooked. That 16-year-old girl is now being influenced by women who wear tons of make-up and are praised by the media because of their “beauty,” when in actuality it’s as fake as their lives portrayed on their show. That 16-year-old girl and many other girls and women like her are being lied to and influenced by the negative influences suggested through reality TV. It is vital that we don’t allow producers to tell us what we should look like, or the lifestyle(s) we should admire, but that we are confident enough in ourselves to say that we are much greater than that.