On December 4th, John Tummon visited Indian Mountain School.
It was during “community,” a period of whole school gathering, when he introduced himself to the entire student body. Coming from an organization called FCD(Freedom from Chemical Dependency), he came with a purpose of raising awareness and educating the students to make intelligent, healthy choices about alcohol, tobacco and other drug use. As a missions-driven organization, FCD Prevention Works™ was the leading international nonprofit provider of school-based substance abuse prevention services. Their mission is to work with schools and other organizations across the United States and around the world to provide students with the knowledge, understanding and skills in order to influence their minds, emotions and decisions over time.
 

From starting with a casual conversation, he eventually enthralled everyone into his talk about an interesting, yet simultaneously a heavy subject: drugs and alcohol. He first asked to the audience, “Who likes being high?” There was an awkward silence in the assembly hall. Then, he queried, “Who likes eating ice-cream?” Everyone rose their hands up. He then stated, “This shows how eating ice-cream makes you high. Therefore, you like being high.” Afterwards, he asked, “What makes you high?” There were silent side conversations. Eventually, one student stood up and declared, “I like playing basketball, and playing basketball makes me high.” John then converted a topic to a broader theme. “People like being high and that’s how we are. Drugs and alcohols really make you high, but they trick your mind to make you feel like that. There is a difference between a pure happiness that comes from playing basketball and eating ice-cream and a feeling you get from using harmful, chemical substances.” John then clearly defined and explained the types of each usage that most of the students already knew.

After a brief lecture, he displayed a short video. While the bird was strolling, the bird found a yellow substance on the ground. Unconscious of what it was, the bird curiously looked through and attempted to drink it. After using it, the bird suddenly flew and felt a joy that the bird never felt or experienced before. When the bird encountered the substance again, the bird tried it again, and felt an unusual jubilation. Now, running to find more, when the bird saw the substance, the bird did not hesitate to use it. Running faster and faster towards a dragging force, although the bird was unaware of itself, the bird was undoubtedly addicted to the substance. Becoming weaker and slower, the bird struggled to use it again and again. Unfortunately, unable to restrain itself from the inclination, the bird slowly became paralyzed. At the end, with a dark setting and quiet sound, the bird passed away.
 Throughout a week, 9th graders had a class with him every day to learn more in detail about the utilization of substances. During those seminars, he asked to all the students, “What did you observe from the video? What were you thinking about?” Many different, yet similar answers were being discussed in the room, and one of countless replies that represented most of the students’ thoughts was: “The bird is addicted to a certain drug. And seeing that was really depressing. Although the audience could see what was going on with the bird, I think the bird was unaware of its addiction and did not know what to do. Since that new feeling was extremely addicting and pleasing, the bird could not stop having it. As a second hand person seeing this, if any of my friends have a similar incident, I want to help him or her out.”

His lecture provided students with information of how harmful the substances were. In addition, it taught numerous students how to face their close friends who are in need of help. Overall, it was a unique time to learn more about an essential topic and to understand how to react when encountered with various situations.

 

Jin Chey 최진
Grade 9
Indian Mountain School