alcohol/drugs

.STUDENTS THAT USE COCAINE IN SUSSEX COUNTY.
I am surprised that 8% of 12 graders are using cocaine in Sussex county. That should not be happening at all.

.STUDENTS THAT USE MARIJUANA IN SUSSEX COUNTY.
6% of 8 grade students that have used Marijuana in the last 12 months. That is a lot of kids. This was in Sussex county that all of this is happening without people knowing.

.STUDENTS THAT ABUSE ALCOHOL IN SUSSEX COUNTY.
48% of 8 grade students have abused alcohol. That was just from Sussex county. I cant believe the number of kids who abused drugs and alcohol in Sussex county.

.MY OPINIONS ABOUT THIS SITUATION.
I think that students who use and abuse drugs and alcohol is stupid. They are destroying their lives. Its wrong what they are doing.

I cant understand why students are doing this. They can get into a lot of trouble if they get caught doing this. A lot of students died from under age drinking and abusing drugs. People in this school died as well. They think that they are being cool by drinking and using drugs. They are not cool at all. They are stupid and foolish.

QUESTIONS

1. Yes, I think that young people grow up to fast. The reason for that is because their parents or most kids parents are involved with drugs or alcohol. Or even both. When that happens they have to take matter in their own hands. They would have to take care of themselves. Thats making them grow up a lot faster. Most kids who have this problem with their parents, their parents are not home all of the time(for most of the kids). It affected Gerald and it made him a better person. This gave him the responsability of taking care of things like his younger sister. He protects her as much as he can. And thats how this changed him.

2. Geralds life is way different than a normal high school student because he has been through so much at a young age. He got taken away from his mother because she was a druggie. She wasnt home all of the time. And she left Gerald home alone almost every day. For a high school student that is not normal. That changed him. He actually likes beining in school. He takes care of his litte sister at home because there mother doesnt care about them.

3. I had to confront someone about their behavior because it was getting out of control. I didnt like how they were treating me and I didnt like how they were treating my friends. So I told them to stop. They dont listen at all. When I went to my one friend or I called her and I told her what was going on and she went to the principal and told on me instead. I got into trouble and they didnt. I was very angry. So I cant do that any more because of what happened. It will only happen again, but only a lot worse.

chapter 7

My dog just died not to long ago. I am still very upset about this. She did everything that I did. She wasnt just a dog. She was a great friend. She had cancer in her bones. When I herd about this, just before my mom took her to the vet I said " the only thing that she didnt have was cancer." And "She can go through anything and survive it all." Well I was wrong. I wish that I never said that. I cant do anything about it. When she died, it snowed at 10:00 when I was in school. Thats when I knew that she was gone. Yesterday was her birthday. It snowed yet again. I knew that she was looking down on me. Letting me know that she was there and that it was her birthday. That was her thing, the snow. She loved the snow so much that she would roll around in it. She did all of the things that I did. She went camping,swimming,hiking. She did it all. She even acted like a puppy even though she was 12.
The two things that are alike with Gerold are: He lost someone that he cared about deeply and now he is very upset about his loss.
The other thing is that he has been with her for 6 years.
I can relate to this because Ive been with my dog almost my whole life.
My dog was also my best friend.

CHILD ABUSE

Out of that number, nearly 9,000 cases were substantiated or indicated as abused. Twenty-one percent suffered physical abuse, 46.6% neglect, 1.4% medical neglect, 11.5% sexual abuse, 5% psychological maltreatment and 18% other or unknown.

Boys and girls are equally likely to be abused or neglected.

Children under the age of 4 account for 75% of all child abuse deaths.

Neglect occurs more frequently than abuse and can be equally damaging and deadly. 30% of all child fatalities are due to neglect.

Approximately 1,500 abused and neglected children receive intensive, rehabilitative mential health services in residential programs.

The majority of children in residential care have been victims of significant physical or sexual abuse.

Got info on WWW.Childabuse.org