A FORUM FOR COMMUNITY ISSUES : Youth / OPINION ON ANTI-DRUG PROGRAMS

CONNIE CONTRERAS, 16. She is a 10th-grader at Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles.

I started going in the wrong direction because I started ditching a lot. I started using drugs, marijuana and alcohol. I had a lot of problems at home also. I was a runaway four times, and I was failing all my classes, and when they got me in this Impact program, at first it was kind of difficult to talk and express myself and how I felt. But afterwards, I started getting confidence in the teachers that were there. I’ve realized a lot of things that were wrong with me. Right now, thank God, I’m doing better in school. I’m better with my parents.