TRIBAL PROGRAM NEWS
Ten Reasons Why I
Don’t Drink Alcohol
by Ashley Taylor-Bellamy
Great-grandfather - Manual Rilatos
1. Responsibility
Just last year, the oldest girl in my
family graduated and moved to college.
She was the role model in my family. It
seemed like anything she did was what I
wanted to do. When she left, she told me I
was the role model now. She gave this
position to me instead of to her sister, who
is older than I am. At age 14, she drank
alcohol, did drugs, stole a car, ran away on
numerous occasions, and that’s just the
beginning. I’m the one who shows the little
kids how to live “large” without alcohol.
When they’re down, it’s my duty to lift them
back up. I'm their ideal, the one they look
up to now. And I’m not going to let alcohol
ruin their wonderful lives. It’s my turn.
2. Future
In the future, I would like to get a
scholarship for playing basketball. I want to
go to a good college, marry a responsible
man, have three kids, and adopt two more.
How do you suppose I will complete these
goals? I will complete these goals by
working hard and staying away from
alcohol. If I get intoxicated all the time, I will
not be able to fulfill my challenging goals.
My brain cells would be toast. My life would
fall apart. My future would be over.
3. Death
This is just one of the results of alcohol.
Let’s say you go to a party and all your
friends are there. They’re there to drink, not
just any kind of drink, alcohol. You have
never tasted alcohol before; you really didn’t
think about it before. You think to yourself,
my friends are doing it, I guess it would be
all right. At the end of the night, you’ve had
seven bottles of beer and you are really
drunk. You take the keys out of your pocket,
unlock the door, and hop into the brand new
Jeep Wrangler you just got for your 16,h
birthday. You turn on the engine and pull
out of your friend’s house. Then all of a
sudden, you hear someone honk their horn
loudly. You hear the screeching of brakes,
glass shattering everywhere, and you black
out. As you lie in the road with blood all
around, you ask yourself, “Why did I do this?
Why did I die?”
10
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Lisa Brown, Sam Lynch, Tasha Rilatos, Ryan Howell, Ashley Taylor-Bellamy, Jermaine
Williams, Andrew Whetstone, Corey Howell, Coby Retherford, and Maggie Norton
receive a $675 check from the Siletz Tribal Charitable Ad-Hoc Committee.
The money wil^fund^ ^ohpl- and drug-free dances sponsored by the
Siletz Prevention Program.
4. Taste and 5. Expensive
Other good reasons to not drink
alcohol are because it tastes nasty and it’s
rather expensive. It doesn’t taste appealing.
Well, perhaps to some, but not to me. It’s
expensive; some people spend thousands
of dollars on alcohol each year. I think it’s
a waste.
6. Addiction
You could become addicted to alcohol
if you drink too much of it daily. Many people
become addicted to alcohol if they don’t
drink responsibly. Many people are addicted
to alcohol. Most of them have problems with
anger. You also may die early if you drink
because it shuts down your body.
7. Health
Another reason I don’t want to drink
alcohol is because I have seen what is does
to my family members. For instance, my
uncle needs a liver transplant because he
drank too much alcohol. He probably will
never end up getting it because drinkers
and dopers who need transplants are at the
end of the list, except for celebrities. A poor,
drunken, dying man like my uncle would
never be chosen.
8. Respect
Alcoholics have no respect for
themselves. They have no respect for
others. That’s another one of the many
reasons why I don’t want to drink alcohol.
9. Fun
I like to play music, play basketball, ride
my bike, and walk my dog. If I drink alcohol,
I wouldn’t ever have the time to do any of
these things. I would either be drinking,
experiencing a hangover, vomiting, or
sleeping. I don’t want to do that. I want to
be a regular 13-year-old girl.
10. Illegal
It’s illegal for a minor to drink alcohol.
If I was caught drinking alcohol, I would get
a M.I.P. (minor in possession). If I was
caught driving, I might get my driver’s
license taken away, or even my car. I might
even go to juvenile hall if I do this too much.
The reasons why I don’t want to drink
alcohol are simple. It’s because I have better
things to do. I don’t want to waste my time
and money on a bottle of early death. It
doesn’t seem logical. Why do people do it?
That’s something I will never know.