Motivational Monologue
When I went to Amplify Youth retreat this year, our director,, had a question for all of us… “Why did you join?” I thought about my answer for a while and it seemed obvious. I joined to be with my friends and to maybe make a difference in peoples’ lives. Seemed good enough.
We had a big retreat and that was fun. We get to do this performance and get out of school and that’s pretty cool too… right? I have met some really great new people. What more could I ask for?
I’m sure many of you have already been to a dance or social event this year. And many of you have friend who have been smoking or drinking or doing other drugs at, before, or after these events. Well, I have been to some of the high school dance, parties, and events and I have seen all of that myself. Now I know for sure why I will remain in Amplify. I want to inspire the people around me to change. We are here today to warn you about the danger of making bad decisions like the decision to drink, smoke, or do other drugs.
It always seems to take something bad happening before we really face the truth about some of our own choices or the choices our friends make. What if we make a commitment today? What if we take the initiative? Why can’t we step up and change things for the better? I could be the change in someone’s world that I want to see. You can be the change in someone’s world, too.
No great social change has been made possible without the assistance of youth. We are the youth. Let’s be the change.
Body Poem
1. I used to smoke before they opened
my chest and surgery filled the dark
clouds roiling and rain turned acid.
My best friend died lungs full of ashes
her hula skirts dry grass rustling
in the corner then another
friend and poems scattered on pages
like incomplete love letters
sprinkles from old pipes.
I used to smoke after lost loves
and loyal friends lungs charred
black and sliced on a surgeon’s plate
from the burning kiss and coffin nails
voice lost in phlegm blooming cloudy
white to yellow. I smoked afternoons
thinking I think I believe smoking
makes anything possible the sexiest
come-hither look or wise pause
taking you straight to the stroke
of the pen. I smoked with silver
holsters the best tobaccos coughs
levelling the field.
2. The cigarette is an insect
Contaminated,
contorted, and crawling
Like
cockroaches on apartment floors
I
put this creature to my lips
You
put this creature to your lips
And
Lighter flames are blazing
under
a squirming abdomen
So
much lies in that cigarette you smoke
So
much planning went into that first drag you ever took.
And
through camel joe and prickly cheeked cowboys
They
found you
And
through ice cream truck ads and sexy saxophone players
They
found me.
The
white paper shell is that media
Concealing
all of the brown horrors that lie underneath
The
white paper shell is a sexy goddess with cancer between her knuckles
Masking
her black lungs
On
the white paper shell are lines of gun powder
On
which essays of fictitious beauty are written
Underneath
the white paper shell lies gnarled tobacco like brown barbed wire
Combustion
products of this metal are cast down in to fresh pink lively lungs
Drawing
in this foreign substance
And
dying
And
dying
And
dying
Over
and over with each hit of carcinogenic glamour
Over
and over with each inhalation of goopy death.
3. I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk I fall in. I am lost... I am hopeless. It isn't my fault. It takes forever to find a way out. I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I pretend I don't see it. I fall in again. I can't believe I'm in the same place. But it isn't my fault. It still takes a long time to get out. I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I see it is there. I still fall in... it's a habit My eyes are open I know where I am It is my fault. I get out immediately. I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I walk around it. I walk down another street.
Sandstorm Skit
Victim Stories
Grace Gary: Grace was a second-grader at Most Blessed Sacrament Catholic School in Baton Rouge. She had a bubbly personality and loved reading, singing, and dancing. On March 16, 2008, Grace was driving with her mom in their minivan on I-10 when Robert Newman Jr, crossed the median and slammed into Grace’s side of the car. At the time, Robert was under the influence of alcohol, cocaine, and prescription drugs. He was sentenced to only 18 years in prison. Rest in peace Grace, you were only eight.
Beth Boudreaux: Beth grew up in Husser, Louisiana, not very far from Hammond. It was at SLU, while celebrating her 19 birthday, that her life was shattered. Beth, who had NOT been drinking, chose to walk home with her friends. They were unable to convince their friend, who had been drinking, to walk with them. He wanted to drive his truck home. As Beth and her friends began walking, the truck sped by and veered off the road striking five of the students, killing three, including Beth. The driver was arrested and charged with three counts of vehicular homicide, two counts of negligent injury, DWI, reckless driving, and hit-and-run. Rest in peace Beth, you were only 19.
Carl: Carl was an extremely talented artist and was set to leave in 2 days for the Memphis College of Art, but nobody could have been ready for what happened that night. As Carl’s mother was walking the dog, she noticed an empty bottle of cough syrup in his car and rushed to check on him. She found him motionless in his bed and it was determined later that a mixture of prescription drugs, marijuana, and cough syrup were the cause of his death. After Carl’s death, an online journal was found where he recorded his progression of use and the effects he got from the drugs. This showed that Carl had been experimenting with cough syrup for years. Rest in peace Carl, you were only 18
Rickie: Rickie, a young man from Covington, worked on a family farm and loved to do tricks with his BMX bicycle. One day, Rickie decided to try marijuana, and was hooked. His addiction led him to trouble with the law and a few stays in rehab. He was tried in Drug Court. While there, another offender introduced Rickie to the idea of getting high on bath salts. The other offender told Rickie that Cloud 9 would give him a great high and it couldn’t be detected in the court’s drug tests. The date was November 10, 2010. While Rickie was high on bath salts, Rickie lost control and cut his own throat open. At 7 am on November 12, Rickie’s father found his still warm body on the floor of his bedroom at home. Rest in peace, Rickie. You were only 21.
Slipped Away (by Avril Lavigne)
I miss you, miss you so bad
I don't forget you, oh it's so sad
I hope you can hear me
I remember it clearly
The day you slipped away
Was the day I found it won't be the same
Oh
Na na na na na na na
I didn't get around to kiss you
Goodbye on the hand
I wish that I could see you again
I know that I can't
Oh
I hope you can hear me cause I remember it clearly
The day you slipped away
Was the day I found it won't be the same
Oh
I had my wake up
Won't you wake up
I keep asking why
And I can't take it
It wasn't fake
It happened, you passed by
Now you are gone, now you are gone
There you go, there you go
Somewhere I can't bring you back
Now you are gone, now you are gone
There you go, there you go,
Somewhere you're not coming back
The day you slipped away
Was the day I found it won't be the same no..
The day you slipped away
Was the day that I found it won't be the same oh...
Na na, na na na, na na
I miss you
Let’s Break It Down
Stage Plot
2 1 5
4 7 6 3
1: The Legal age to drink alcohol is 21.
2&3:21?
4: Why?
5: Why?
6: Why?
All: LET’S BREAK IT DOWN.
1: The reason the age is 21 is because our bodies
2-7: Our bodies
1: Our bodies are not physically capable to handle alcohol until the age of 21.
2: Alcohol contains chemicals that affect your decision-making skills
1,3-7: DO IT! DO IT! DO IT! DO IT!
5: Isn’t make decisions hard enough?
2: and can cause brain damage.
7: Ow!
6: Ow!
3:Ow!
3: About 24,000 people
7: 24,000?!?
3: 24,000 people with an alcohol abuse problem in Louisiana are between the ages of 12-17
1, 2, 4, 5, 6: THAT’S A LOT
2 & 5: LET’S BREAK IT DOWN.
4: Young people react differently to alcohol
6:How?
5: How?
3: Yea, how?
4: teens get drunk twice as fast as adults do, and have more trouble knowing when to stop.
2: Stop
7: Stop
1: Stop
6: Stop
5: Stop
3: Stop
7: In the name of love (sung)
4: You really need to stop… Teens have more trouble knowing when to stop, which leads to the damage of brain cells.
5: Oh no! Not my cells! (over dramatic, fake faint)
6: What else?
5: Marijuana
7: Weed
3: Pot
5: whatever you want to call it, it’s illegal.
2, 4, 7: iiiiiiiilegal (sassy)
3: Can we break that down?
5: Most people think that marijuana isn’t that bad for you but marijuana is addicting. The more you use marijuana the more your brain depends on it.
6: I need it. I need it. I need it. I need it. I need it. I need it.
5: The brain becomes hooked
1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7: Aaaargh (with hook hand)
5: and it can dominate your life
7: Cigarettes aren’t cool
3 & 6: Mhmmm (sassy)
4: Not. Cool.
7: Lets break it down. The negative effects from cigarette smoking accounts for an estimated 443,000 deaths or nearly one of every five deaths each year, in the U.S.
3: 1, 2, 3, 4… I’m dead.
ALL: Is it worth it?
Wavin' Flag
Square Skit
Sister: For as long as I can remember, I have looked up to my brother. He’s a couple years older than me, and I’d always wanted to be like him. One day, and I’ll never forget this day, I was in my room and he came in with my parents. He sat down next to me and told me about the things he had been doing and the choice that he had been making. Our parents found marijuana is in his truck. I can’t how many times he would tell me not to drugs or that he would never do drugs. What happened? He cried when eh told me. My brother, my best friend! It’s heartbreaking to see your role model fall right before your eyes.
Best Friend: I remember him being the guy that used to tell other people not to do drugs. He was that good kid, but something changed. I still remember his first time… well, I don’t remember much, but I remember he didn’t take much convincing. I guess the curiosity finally got him. We had some geat times, we never really thought to much about “what is this gets out of control” or “what if someone gets hurt?” or “what is we get busted,” but it all fell apart when his dad found weed in his truck. I was the one who bought it for us. Anyway, his family doesn’t trust him now and we don’t get to hang out anymore. It happens like that some times. His loss.
Main Character: I guess I was just trying to have the high school experience. It didn’t seem like a big deal at first, just a party on the weekend. I was in control…I thought. Soon it got to be where I was with the same people every day after school, doing the same things. All I wanted to do was get high. I would plan my day around smoking. Then everything spiraled down. My dad found weed in my car; I’d never seen him so angry. My mom wanted to kick me out. I’d seen her cry before but not like that day. The worst part was telling my little sister. Her tears probably hurt the most. It would be a great story if I could tell you that I quit that day. But that’s how fairy tales end and this is not a fairy tale. Before I was finally about to get clean and put it all behind me, I tried way more drugs and broke my family’s heart many more times. Oh yeah, and jail ain’t much fun either. After some quality time in rehab, here I am. Most of my friends are doing well, in college, and I guess pretty happy. But the choices I made and things that I have done are gonna follow me with every college application I fill out and every job I apply for… You ever wish you could go back in time?.... Me too.
Slam Poetry
ALL: I don’t feel sorry for you
1: you who’s risking your health, your future, and your family’s well-being buying marijuana from a local drug dealer.
2: You who thinks that trying meth one time isn’t a big deal, because you just know that you won’t get addicted.
3: You who doesn’t think that heroin is a problem in your community?
4: You who think doing cocaine is a harmless party drug that doesn’t hurt anyone but you?
ALL: I don’t feel sorry for you. But you know who I DO feel sorry for?
1. I feel sorry for all of the people in Mexico who live in fear of the drug cartels that your marijuana helps support. Every month, Mexican authorities uncover more mass graves of people killed in organized criminal violence. Yet the news media is too afraid for their own lives to report it. When people post information on blogs trying to protect innocent people from the gunfights that are a daily occurrence in some cities, they’re hunted down and murdered. In September, two bloggers were kidnapped,
3: tortured,
ALL: murdered
1. Their dead bodies hung by ropes off of a bridge in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. A sign found with their bodies read “This is going to happen to all those who post funny things on the internet.” Funny things?
ALL: Funny things?
1. I’m not laughing.
2. I feel sorry for the innocent kids hurt and killed in meth lab explosions. Like Neibi Brito’s family, three kids who were burned alive.
1, 3, 4 Chant: Char, singe, blister, burn
2. when their Mom’s boyfriend blew up the meth lab he’d built in their house. The mom and her boyfriend knew what they were doing, and went to jail. But did the three children ever stand a chance?
3. I feel sorry for our men and women in the armed forces, who are fighting a war on terror that your drug purchases are actively helping to fund. 92% of the world’s supply of opium and heroin come from Afghanistan—that’s over a billion dollars
4. Billion
2. Billion
1. Billion?
3. A billion dollars going directly to warlords and insurgents, who use that money to kill US Armed forces across the Middle East. Everyone here who has lost someone
4. Brother
2. Cousin
1. Neighbor
4. Boyfriend
2. Mother
1. Mentor
3. Or friend in the middle east can thank the people buying and using heroin. It’s your money that paid for their death.
4. I feel sorry for all of the puppies that drug smugglers use to sneak drugs across the border. These puppies, who’ve never hurt anyone, are cut open by drug smugglers, stuffed with bags of cocaine, and then sewn back up. Once the puppies pass through customs in the United States, the drug dealers kill the puppies and rip the drugs out of their bodies. Think about that next time someone offers you drugs: is it worth the murder of innocent little dogs?
ALL: But do you know who I REALLY feel sorry for?
1: It’s the people who are too lazy
2: Uninformed
3: Uncaring
4: Selfish
1: To learn the facts about who’s really affected by illegal drugs.
J-Po Skit
Speech Act
If You're Out There (by John Legend)
Speech Act
Revolution Reprise
Drew Talk