Success StoryTruth and Consequences



Truth and Consequences

Author: Brenda Cockerham

Planning Unit: Johnson County CES

Major Program: Truth and Consequences: The Choice is Yours

Plan of Work: Making Healthy Lifestyle Choices

Outcome: Intermediate Outcome

Three hundred students from Johnson Central and Paintsville School schools attended the Truth and Consequences event. Drug abuse prevention remains one of the top two concerns of councils and citizens throughout the county. The other top issue is jobs, we are discovering that the two are related. Two additional speakers addressed the importance of fatherhood and fathers being present, and the second spoke of a real life occurrence to a Johnson County student who lost his life as a result of a bad decision. Post evaluations revealed that 90% of attendees grasped all the major concept being conveyed and communicated a commitment to not follow this path. One student stated the following ""Friday's activity didn't exactly teach me anything new, it just solidified my decision to never do drugs or get involved with alcohol. In my family there are several drug addicts and alcoholics. My mom's stepdad was an alcoholic and recovering drug addict. My grandmother has been clean her entire life but she worked all the time, so she was never home to stop the revolving door of junkies and alcoholics my step-granddad dragged in. My mom and her brother still have to deal with their childhood today. " The student wrote an entire page of how drugs and alcohol had adversely affected her family's life. She reaffirmed how that the program helped her resolve to stay far away from them as she had witnessed her own version of Truth and Consequences. This is the fifth time we have hosted this event. Former students have reported about the impact it has made on their lives. One student shared that it was the most impactful single event of her high school career. English teachers and other staff are now beginning to include the event in the separate parts of their curriculum, writing about what it means to them.






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