Pubdate: Fri, 08 Dec 2000
Source: Cherry Hill Courier-Post (NJ)
Copyright: 2000 Cherry Hill Courier-Post
Contact:  P.O. Box 5300, Cherry Hill, N.J. 08034
Feedback: http://www.courierpostonline.com/about/edletter.html
Website: http://www.courierpostonline.com/
Author: Jennifer Wahl, Courier-Post Staff

INMATES TEACH PUPILS LESSON ON DRUG ABUSE

MOUNT LAUREL - Vanessa Veloz approached the podium in Harrington Middle 
School's auditorium Thursday - but not to lead a holiday sing-along or 
promote a parent-led fund-raiser to the 500 seventh-grade students gathered 
there.

Instead, Veloz introduced herself as Inmate 19814. She is serving a 
seven-year sentence for drug possession at the Edna Mahan Correctional 
Facility for Women in Clinton, Hunterdon County.

"Drugs will make you think they're your greatest friend in the world. But 
the only thing they will bring you is suffering and death," Veloz said.

Veloz was one of four inmates from the state's prison system who spoke to 
the students about how their lives - at one time stable - drifted into the 
dark world of drug use.

Their overriding message: Don't make the same mistakes that we did.

The program came at an especially meaningful time for Harrington Middle 
School. Three students were charged with possession of marijuana Nov. 17 
after a locker search by school administrators.

The program, called Promoting Responsibility in Drug Education (PRIDE), 
emphasizes the consequences of decisions, said Michael Ritter, the 
program's coordinator.

"We feel that if we can give kids real-life examples of what happens when 
you choose drugs, it will prevent them from getting into them in the first 
place," Ritter said.

A representative from the department moderates the program with local 
school administrators and law enforcement officials. Typically, four 
inmates - two male and two female - speak to students. The moderator makes 
comments after each talk and then fields questions from the audience. After 
the program, introduced by the state Department of Corrections in 1998, the 
inmates and students have lunch together.

According to the 1999 Uniform Crime Report, drug arrests for people under 
17 declined 11 percent from the previous year, but drug-related arrests 
remain second only to theft for juveniles. But even more disturbing, 80 
percent of the state's 30,000-plus inmates have used or distributed drugs 
and many started when they were in their early teens, Ritter said.

According to Superintendent Arthur Merz, Mount Laurel was the first 
municipality in the Lenape School District to offer the program to middle 
school students.

"I saw the program at Lenape High School and was extremely impressed by it. 
We thought it would be good to bring it to our middle school students 
before they move on to high school," Merz said.

Now, more than 50 percent of the district's middle schools have used the 
program, said Harrington guidance counselor Joyce Jones. She serves on the 
district's drug-free committee.

"If we can make one student today make a different decision, then the 
program is worth it," she said.

Students sat with their eyes locked on the speakers.

Sara Trzuskowski, 13, was particularly moved by how quickly life can turn 
in another direction.

"I was shocked," Trzuskowski said.

"It showed me how with one decision you can go wrong."

Tommy Collins, 12, learned things he never knew about drug and alcohol use.

"Like people who say they're your friend and then they ask you to use drugs 
with them. But they're never there for you when you're in jail - only your 
family is there for you. I also learned how easy it is to get addicted," he 
said.

And while students benefited from the talk, 13-year-old Angel Fields thinks 
it reinforced an even greater lesson learned three weeks ago.

"I knew those kids. I never thought they were into drugs. I was shocked 
that they would bring that into our school but it was an example of what 
not to do," she said.
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