It was a great honor to have Deputy Rieder teach me about DARE. She helped me learn about so many things. My favorite lesson was about peer pressure. There are different kinds of peer pressure, and three of them are friendly, positive and teasing.

The best information I learned was how to handle friendly peer pressure. An example of friendly peer pressure is someone saying, "Let's go to a party. Everyone is going to be there. Some guy is going to bring beer and it is going to be awesome!" I can identify friendly peer pressure so I can say, "No thank you."

Additionally, positive peer pressure is something else I learned about. Positive peer pressure is when someone makes what he or she wants you to do seem a good idea. For example, when someone asks me, ''Do you want a cigarette? It is good to smoke." I will say, "No thanks." I will then get away from that situation.

Furthermore, teasing is another form of peer pressure. Teasing peer pressure is when someone embarrasses or makes fun of me for my choices. When I am teased because I make good choices, I will run away. If the person says, "Are you too chicken?" I will just say, "I am not a chicken. I can make good choices for myself.”

In conclusion, the lessons taught by Deputy Rieder are ones that will stay with me for the rest of my life. Peer pressure was an important topic for me. Since I have learned about the forms of peer pressure, I can feel good about saying, "No." DARE has made me a smarter guy.

DARE Essay Index