When I was younger alcohol/drug abuse were a large part of my life. At first, it started small with a little marijuana and the occasional beer but it soon consumed my life. I was smoking every day, getting drunk all weekend & spending all my money on it. It wasn’t until the end of my freshmen year of high school that it started to dawn on me that there was something very wrong with this situation. I didn’t want to do anything else but get high, I was very angry, and my friends who couldn’t afford the habit started stealing to help supplement their missing income. 

It was in May that my life changed forever. In P.E. one morning I was teamed up with a sophomore named Mike. I happened to be wearing an AFI shirt and he commented on it saying something like,

“That’s a good band, their singer is straight edge you know”

After realizing that he was talking to me, I asked him what kind of music he listened too. He said "hardcore and then explained how he was in a straight edge band called Locate. 

Mike and his friends took me under their wing and opened my eyes to a new lifestyle (or scene). To think, here was a group of kids just like me that didn’t need to party, they were happy, and always seemed to be having the most fun possible.  After a few months of hanging out with them, going to many shows I knew this “scene” was something that just felt right. It was something I wanted to be a part of and that's when I started to live a more positive, straight edge lifestyle.

Now, my question to you is what can you do to be a positive influence to your peers, to your best friend, or even your parents?

try these out;

Start a discussion with someone.

Use some form of new media to get your opinion out there.


Lead by example.

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