Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / July 1, 2004, edition 1 / Page 4
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Summit focuses on drugs, sex, peer pressure BY PAUL COLLINS THE CHRONICLE About a dozen young peo ple attended a teen summit on peer pressure, teenage preg nancy. and drug and alcohol abuse Saturday afternoon at Winston Lake YMCA. Johnny Duckett, one of the organizers, said that that if the effort helped even one person it was worth it. Duckett has a show on CAT-TV called "Cool Readers." In the session on peer pres sure, young people learned about about positive and nega tive peer pressure. And they were asked to give recent examples of how they have had to deal with peer pressure. For example, one young per son said a girl tried to get her to drink, but she said no. Another young person said a young man tried to get him to smoke. One way to deal with neg ative peer pressure is to just say no and walk away, Duckett said. Libby Stoy, project coordi nator of the Teen Initiative Project, and Shayla Nesbitt, parent-teen educator, both of the Forsyth County Depart ment of Public Health, con ducted the session on teenage pregnancy. Stoy said: "We talked about what respect means with regard to special choices. We talked about some of the risks involved with sex ual intercourse, the three types of sex, vaginal, rectal and oral, some of the risks involved in that. We talked about protecting them selves. ..respect for yourself . .and abstinence as the No. I method (of prevent ing pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases). Photo hy Paul Collins Teens discuss important issues of the day. In the third session. Mur ray Miller, a youth and drug counselor, talked about how drugs and alcohol can damage the brain and alcohol can dam age the liver. He said heroine is the most addictive drug and that mor phine is the most powerful pain killer. He said marijuana does the same thing as crack cocaine but is a little slower. He said these problems may occur with crack cocaine: crack cocaine stimulates the body's pleasure center; pro? duces a rush by blocking the body's transmitters; causes the body to think it needs more crack cocaine; some people will steal or kill to get it: the heart rate and blood pressure increase; some people contract sexually transmitted diseases; brain damage occurs; the user becomes more anxious with out cocaine; cocaine keeps damaging the brain more; depression sets in; the cocaine addict loses weight, has trou ble sleeping, has heart and lung problems and may have a lot of infections. He said the drug ecstasy was originally developed as a weight loss pill. "If you see it, stay away from it," he said. He said alcohol can destroy your liver and damage your brain. "Drugs and alcohol hinder your education: You can't focus," he said. He concluded, "When a person gets caught up in drugs, apathy sets in." What did some of the teen participants learn from the summit? ? One girl said, "Abstinence is the best protection (from pregnancy)." Brittany Hardy said, "There can be positive peer pressure as well as negative." Sasha Dujilap said: "I leaned that you shouldn't have sex. 1 learned that ... if you do have sex, you should wrap up (use protection). And when you have peer pressure, you should say the right things, follow the right crowd. Don't think you're not cool if you don't smoke and drink. ...You shouldn't drink because it Willi mess up your insides. When you go to college, you can't drink because you're trying to get a scholarship...." Brandon Nance said: "No birth control is 100 percent effective. There is no guaran tee of not having a baby, except for abstinence." Smoking from page A I "Tobacco. Reality. Unfiltered." orTRU. The group just kicked off a road tour that will take its anti smoking message to young peo ple in five other North Carolina cities in the next three months. Friday's block party, which attracted hundreds of young people from across the state, was held in conjunction with the opening ceremonies of the State Games, which were held here over the weekend. The event featured music, dancing, food and an assortment of camival style games and activities. Par ticipants were also given the opportunity to tell a video cam eraperson how smoking has affected their lives. Selected interviews will be used is a series of TRU anti-smoking commercials that will air statewide in the fall. Hall and other adults whose lives have been devastated by cigarette use will also appear in the spots. Don Cole said he wished such commercials were around when he was growing up. Cole smoked for 31 years, but it was 10 years after he kicked the habit that he devel oped lung cancer. Doctors removed one of his lungs and today he is is cancer free. Cole said he did not know that smok ing was dangerous when he first picked up the habit. But Cole says he does not fault the cigarette manufacturers for his ignorance about tobacco. "I blame nobody but myself because I was not informed." he said. "That's why it is necessary for me to get to these kids to inform them." TRU. as well as dozens of other anti-smoking initiatives across the state, is funded by the _N.C. Health and Wellness Trust Fund, which was created by the General Assembly in 2(XX) with money from a massive settle ment between states and tobacco companies. Money from the fund has primarily been used on preventive health programs. Erin Carnahan. a spokesper son for TRU, said TRU believes that its efforts are working to reach young people. But the group is planning a series of study groups to evaluate if the anti-smoking message that is being driven home in the televi sion spots and education initia tives are effective. While adults like Hall and Cole will continue to play a part in getting out the message, Car nahan said adding the voices of young people is the best way to reach their peers. "The testimonials of other teens are very important because they relate to their peers." she said. In between all the fun and games, 1 1 -year^old Tinisha Fai son took time out to record a tes timonial. Faison, who lives in Clinton, talked about her grand father. who has developed lung disease after smoking for decades. "He is sick all the time. He can't do things. He has seizures." she said, relating the side effects of her grandfather's disease. Even at her age. Faison said she sees her peers picking up the habit. But seeing what cigarettes have done to her grandfather, she says, is much more powerful than any kind of peer pressure. "I would never do it," she said with a look of disgust. "1 don't w?nt to end up like him because I don't want to die at an early age." Photo by Kevin Walker Tinisha Faison tapes her testi monial for the commercial . Fiason talked about her grandfather w ho has lung disease. The Chronicle will be holding a circulation drive during the next few weeks. We will make a contribution to the Samaritan Ministries for each subscriber signing up during this special promotion. We will also be asking you the likes and dislikes of your locally owned newspaper so that we can better serve your needs. We will be calling: Monday. Tuesday. Wednesday. Thursday. Friday The Chronicle Thank you for your support. 9:00 am - 1:00 pm 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm 5:00pm - 9:00 pm Saturday 9:00 am - 1:00 pm Dr. H. Rembert Malloy lived to be 90 years old. Effort is afoot to save house of the trailblazing doctor CHRONK I I M VI I R I- PORT State Rep. Larry Womble is leading an effort to the save the stately old white house on New Walkertown Road thAt trailblazing doctor H.'Rembert Malloy called home. The house and its contents were scheduled for auction even before Malloy passed away in May. Many contents from the house were auctioned last week, but the house. Womble said, is being taken off the auc tion block while Malloy 's family and supporters look for ways to preserve the home. Womble said plans will include asking local individ uals to contribute money to save the house, which Womble believes can be used as a cultural and educa tional center similar to Reynolda House. "We want to save the house because of the contri butions Dr. Malloy has made to this community," Womble said. Malloy was not only the city's first black surgeon but the first black surgeon in the region with his own prac tice. He was known for his great skill in the operating room and for his generosity. Stories abound of Malloy performing painstaking pro cedures on people who had no means to pay him. His doors were always open, those who knew say, even to those without means. Womble said Malloy's stature is so great that some of those who bought items from his home during the auction returned the items so that they can ht; included in whatever plans pan out for the house. Malloy's house was one of the first along New Walk ertown. It sits on a hill and to this day is admired by those who pass it. Malloy lived in the house for more than half a century. But he spent his last days in hos pice care. He was 90 when he passed away. Shortly before his death, the county renamed the library branch in East Win ston in honor of Malloy, who along with three other black doctors in 1950 donat ed the land on which the library sits. Womble also led the effort to name the library for the surgeon 4th of July Sale rW, . 0 Now Thru Saturday Croup of ladies shoes and sandals displayed on racks NOW Rangoni, Sesto Meucci, Vaneli, Magdesians Sizes from 4 to 12 in 4 A - 3 A - 2 A - B widths r - - - - - - ----- i WITH THIS J/L^ COUPON I all regular price ? 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Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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July 1, 2004, edition 1
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