Crossing the lines

In this October 2012 photo, Joy Sweeney of the Council for Drug Free Youth asks students to fill in the blanks as they try to guess the percentage of students who admit to using drugs or alcohol in different time frames. Sweeney was at Calvary Lutheran High School for baseline training in an attempt to create awareness of the use of legal and illegal substances by Jefferson City area high school seniors. (News Tribune photo)
In this October 2012 photo, Joy Sweeney of the Council for Drug Free Youth asks students to fill in the blanks as they try to guess the percentage of students who admit to using drugs or alcohol in different time frames. Sweeney was at Calvary Lutheran High School for baseline training in an attempt to create awareness of the use of legal and illegal substances by Jefferson City area high school seniors. (News Tribune photo)

On one side of the room, a small sign labeled "Strongly Agree" was taped to the wall. On the other side, a similar sign read "Strongly Disagree." Between the two walls, 16 teenagers - all Calvary Lutheran High School students - stood in attentively in a line.

Time and again, Joy Sweeney, executive director of the Council for Drug Free Youth, asked the students to share their attitudes about drugs and alcohol by moving closer to one wall or the other.

While most students disagreed with the notion that "drinking helps people deal with problems," they were less clear about whether or not people are "more accepted if they drink or smoke pot."

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