Dear teenagers,

We love you. Believe it or not, we were teenagers too and we remember what it was like to be young. We have a hard time admitting it, but we also believed we were invincible, as I am sure you do. We think: “Nothing will ever happen to us!”

We were also motivated by fun, just like you. It’s great to be young, but as we now know, if we’re not careful with our attitude and choices, fun can turn into tragedy!

I want to share with you some of the experiences that I have had and some of the things that I have observed and learned.

The reality is that many of the people we met, when we were young, did not make it. Or they are dead; because of the decisions they made, or have destroyed their own lives with alcohol and drugs, especially alcohol! Many of them have ruined the families they had, due to their bad habits and many of them harmed their children, being bad examples.

Those of us who survived were able to see where our lives were heading and made better decisions. For some reason we were the lucky ones. Possibly, to be able to share with you what we have learned. The truth is, WE FEAR FOR THEIR LIVES!

Too many of you are headed for a life of destruction. ALCOHOL AND DRUGS WILL DESTROY YOU! You may not believe it, but we’ve lived long enough to know that what I’m saying is true.

The party was the name of the game then and it still is. Partying means drinking alcohol and / or using drugs. Of course, you like doing these things because, temporarily, they make you feel good and it seems like you’re having fun. It’s just that once the so-called fun is over, what are the consequences?

Here are three true stories of children who are now suffering the consequences.

This is a letter from a boy, who is locked up in Juvenile Hall in San Diego.

Be a winner in life

I am in jail at the age of sixteen in unit 800, maximum security, and it seems that I am facing a long time for my crime.

I was with four of my friends driving to a party. When we arrived, my so-called friends offered me a drink. Usually I was drinking and taking some drugs, that horrible night, but I was driving so I said “no” at first but then peer pressure started “Oh come on, don’t be a coward”, or ” a drink won’t hurt. “

So, like any other teenager, I did it with pride and drank that little shot of liquor, like it was a glass of water, and you know you can’t have just one drink, so one drink became two, two into three. and three became six.

Now at the party feeling better than ever, my cell phone rings and they are my worst enemy girls … They ask me and my friends to come kick it. I say “no” because it was discolored. But the homies said, “yeah, we’ll come.”

So me, I’m coming in all drunk and disheveled, saying to myself “who cares, what’s the worst that could happen to me?” My friends got on the ride.

We are now on the road, driving about 120 miles in a residential area. They all deviate and zigzag. Red lights, blue lights, cops behind me. In my mind, I’m thinking “I could lose them.”

My friends tell me, “don’t stop.” What should I do now? So when I’m puzzled, my friend reminds me how much trouble I’m going to get into, so I thought, “don’t fry.”

When I stopped, I saw the policeman get out of his police car and come towards me. When he got to the end of my car, I put the car in gear and drove away … fast, uncontrollably fast, on the freeway driving 135 miles per hour, feeling like a superman flying, passing cars, feeling so good, because I lost to police.

The next thing I know is BAM !!! Car crash. Blood everywhere. Broken windshield and to top it all my friend flew out the front window. No seat belt on

It left me and my other two friends injured. But at the time he wasn’t worried about us. It was the outsider that worried me. The dead.

When I got out of the car, the police everywhere … They took us to the hospital and then arrested us. One friend was fine, the other was hurt. I got hurt in every possible way and the last one was ‘dead’.

My charges are DUI, evading a piece officer, driving at dangerous speed without a license, a firearm in the car, and 187 murder.

Now I face longer than ever, with a body on my head. Regretting everything. It was a mistake, I will never forget it.

Now the only friends I have are my family. They are helping me get through this.

From my story, all I have to tell you is, “never listen to your homies or your friends because they are not your real friends.” The family is first!

HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE HIM?

The second story is gruesome!

A 17-year-old boy, who was a first-rate student and a great golfer, went to a party with his friends and was drinking alcohol and smoking mariwana. After the party he had to go to work. He got into his car feeling high and made another stupid choice. He stopped his car on the highway to smoke another mariwana cigarette. He started his car, started to accelerate, lost control, went off the freeway and hit three trees. Today he is sitting in a wheelchair, paralyzed from the neck down. No more golf. No more fun!

HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF YOU WERE HIM?

Another story:

On Saturday, December 21, 2002, I attended the funeral of a 17-year-old boy from Oceanside. He is also the victim of a bad choice, a consequence of thinking: “Nothing will happen to me.”

Taylor Hodgson went to a party and then got into a car, driven by a friend who was at the party. The 22-year-old was allegedly driving drunk. He sped down Highway 78 and lost control, as he entered and exited traffic. The truck struck two other vehicles and rolled, throwing Taylor onto the road. He died four hours later.

Taylor was a guy everyone liked. The funeral was full of colleagues and friends. His family was broken by the tragedy of losing the son and brother they loved. Taylor is no longer alive, to discover her potential and her fun is over! Twenty-two-year-old driver is in jail, now he’s a murderer!

WOULD YOU LIKE YOUR LIFE TO END?

Those who love you would never get over it.

Unfortunately, these incidents are only isolated cases. I see hundreds of children in similar situations. Please be smart. Make the right decisions. Choose not to drink alcohol at all! Do not do drugs! Do not get into a vehicle when someone else is drinking. Make sure you remember!

IT CAN HAPPEN TO YOU !!!!!!! MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICES !!!!!!!

I love Eva Fry

Author of “BE A WINNER IN LIFE”