Youths urged to use the five B's to resist peer pressure

It's a situation too many kids and teenagers find themselves in.

Come on.

It's just one drink.

Just one hit.

No one has to know.

Jessika Abbrescia used every argument she could think of Monday morning to persuade her sister Nikki to join her at a party at Tally Lake. Between the booze and beer that would be at the unsupervised bonfire, not to mention the potential of getting busted by the badge, Nikki Abbrescia knew the party was probably a bad situation.

Instead of succumbing to her sister's pressure, Nikki Abbrescia turned for help to the five B's she had learned in Flathead CARE: beware, bad idea, better idea, bye for now and buzz me.

The pressure Abbrescia felt Monday wasn't real; it was part of a skit that she, her sister and other students from Flathead and Glacier high schools performed for upper elementary students around the valley.

The students are members of Flathead CARE's STAND (Students Taking a New Direction) Club.

Club members spent part of Monday performing skits demonstrating how to avoid situations where students might be pressured to use drugs, tobacco or alcohol.

They acted out tough situations at grade schools around the valley as part of Red Ribbon Week, an annual event to promote alternatives to using those substances.

The first stop of the day was at Creston School, where club members performed for the school's fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders. Without seventh and eighth grades, Creston often avoids the temptations the STAND Club members demonstrated, Principal Judi Hewitt said.

But Creston students might face pressure-filled situations when they start attending the middle and high schools.

Creston is part of the Flathead CARE consortium, executive director Kari Gabriel explained, which means the school contributes some of its federal dollars from the Safe and Drug-Free Schools Act to CARE.

Creston is one of Flathead CARE's favorite schools, Gabriel added, but after Monday's performance, the group discussed the possible need to alter its message there next fall.

"We realize it's a younger audience. Maybe we need to do something that's geared ... more to that age group," she said. "We'll work on that for next year."

STAND members also presented information at Kalispell Middle School and Cayuse Prairie, Fair-Mont-Egan, Helena Flats, St. Matthew's, Trinity Lutheran and Marion schools, Gabriel said.

To help students at those schools prepare for the temptations they will likely face, STAND students demonstrated how to use the five B's.

First, students should beware. That means asking important questions before an event, such as who will be there, whether it's supervised and what is on the agenda.

Bad idea, the second B, means students should listen to the voice that tells them a situation might not be good.

"Basically if your gut tells you ... it might not be a good idea, trust your gut," Elena Musz told the Creston students. "Realize there might be negative consequences."

Instead of ignoring their guts and getting themselves into a potentially hazardous situation, students can turn to the third B: Offer a better idea or a safer alternative.

If that still doesn't sway the person plying the peer pressure, students can try the fourth B, bye for now. Make an excuse to leave, such as homework, practice or work.

Before leaving, students should use the fifth B: buzz me. STAND members urged their audience members to ask their friends to call or text them, to give their friends more opportunities to say no to a harmful situation.

Saying no means students can have a positive influence on friends who might be tempted to drink or use drugs, Musz told the Creston students.

Jessika Abbrescia urged the students to make friends with people who wouldn't pressure them to take part in illegal activities. Remaining friends with people who drink or use drugs means students could get labeled as troublemakers, even if they've never used the substances, she said.

"The best choice is always to have different people in your life," she said.

That could mean joining STAND when they get to middle school or high school, or simply having friends who don't drink or use drugs.

Red Ribbon Week activities continue through Saturday. For a list of events, visit the Flathead CARE Web site at www.sd5.k12.mt.us/care/index.htm or call 751-3970.