A few days later, Madeline heard back from Miss Groundswell about the program idea. She told Madeline that the school administration to agreed to make it happen, making her super excited. But Groundswell told her that the program can start a week later if the administration can find a professional public speaker to do the program.
A couple days after, Miss Groundswell met up with Madeline to tell her that the administration could not find an available public speaker to talk about the negative effects of drug abuse. However, Groundswell convinced the administration to have Madeline become the public speaker. Madeline asked why is she the speaker in confusion and Groundswell answered with that Madeline has loads of knowledge about the matter and that she's smart and experienced to be a speaker. As long as she was doing it once, Madeline took the offer, becoming the public speaker of the drugs program.
So one week after, all of the students in the tenth grade were announced to skip their second period class to come to the auditorium. They all sat in a organized way in the seats and talked amongst themselves to wait for the program to begin.
"I can't believe Madeline was chosen to be a public speaker for our classmen," Debra commented to her friends that she was sitting next to.
"I can't believe that we have blow off second period to be here," said Andrea. "Yes! No English test."
"I hope she's not nervous," Lizzie said.
"There is no way she could be nervous," responded Skye. "Maddie practically speaks her mind."
"That's impossible. If she spoke her mind, she would never stop talking. I know a lot of things run through my mind every second."
"Really?" Andrea replied.
Suddenly, the curtains started opening up.
"Shush!" Debra uttered. "The program is starting."
"I was shushed," Andrea retorted.
Madeline walked out onto the stage from the side with a microphone in her hand, dragging the wire behind herself. Until she reached the center of the stage, she started speaking into the microphone.
"Hello, fellow students," she declared. "My name is Madeline King."
"Hi, Maddie!" Lizzie hollered.
A teacher nearby shushed her.
"'Sup, girlfriend," Madeline responded. "I know it seems kind of strange that I am speaking in front of all of you. The students who know me know I'm a student and the students who don't know me know I'm a teenager."
A few people in the audience chuckled.
"There weren't any public speakers available to speak about the subject I'm here to explain. So I was chosen to be the speaker and trust me, there is an evidential reason for why I'm the speaker today. So please, here me out. The subject I'm here to talk about is drug abuse. I know that drug abuse in nonstop and it's everywhere. Even places outside of our country. And people of all ages are doing drugs like cocaine, meth, marijuana. And the people who do the drugs have many different reasons for it. It could be for idea conception, relaxation, refuge. Many reasons. I don't have proof that this is happening but there is a possible chance that some of you here are using drugs. Did you know that teens buying marijuana is just as easy as adults buying marijuana? And the teenagers who are doing marijuana believes that it's fun to smoke and gives you feeling that makes you feel good. And I know that we all want to feel good, but we do by exercising, dressing in our favorite clothes, watching a funny movie, anything. Please know that even if you don't do drugs, still listen because it is a serious matter. Question: who has seen Harold and Kumar?"
Half of the audience raised their hands, including Skye.
"What's Harold and Kumar?" asked Lizzie quietly.
"It's a movie," answered Skye.
"Is it about boys?"
"Yes!"
"I believe that people who have seen Harold and Kumar find it humorous," continued Madeline. "And it is noted that the two main characters smoked certain amounts of weed in that movie. But to just be clear, the movie is fictional. And none of those situations would happen to one if they were to drive to White Castle. But it is the emotional and mental situations that happen after you smoke marijuana. In addition, weed increases your heart rate, makes you less coordinated, causes you to be depressed and even makes you drowsy. Who plays sports?"
Half of the audience raised their hands.
"Well, if you were to smoke pot before attending a game, you would lose your skills immediately. You can't focus; you can't move; you can't win that championship. Ever wanted to be a champion? That could slip away if you let drugs get in your way. And let's not forget that if you are caught with cannabis, you will get arrested. Who desires to go to jail?"
None of the audience members raised their hands.
"Want to know a way to stay out of jail? Stay away from marijuana because that is the criminal who will put the victim in prison. And to think about it, smoking a joint of cannabis is like smoking a cigarette. It is no different. Ever seen the commercials about how smoking ruined ordinary people's lives? Think about all of those commercials that you have seen and add the word 'marijuana' next to the word 'smoking'. But don't just think about cannabis affecting your life; think about every drug in the world affecting your life. Question: who enjoys watching the TV show 'Glee'?"
A quarter of the audience raised their hands.
"And I bet you that some of you liked the character Finn, played by Cory Monteith. And it should be clear to everybody that who watches 'Glee' that Cory died from abusing drugs. How many of you were upset that Cory Monteith passed away?"
The same quarter of the audience raised their hands again.
"He was only 31. He would still be on 'Glee' today if he only thought about his life choices and never touched those drugs. Can everybody who knows well-known people shout out the ones who died from any type of drug?"
Almost every audience member, including the girls, hollered different celebrities who lost their lives to drugs:
"Whitney Houston."
"Amy Winehouse."
"Kurt Cobain."
"Hillel Slovak."
"Thank you," said Madeline. "There were many people who died to such a subject. And they were people that many enjoyed. And a lot of you have friends, maybe one or maybe more. Just think about how much they care about you. Why get sucked into a substance when you have people who cares about you enough to miss you when you're gone? That applies to the people who don't have friends because you have family who loves you and wants you around forever. But if you still feel alone, I'm here. I will be your friend."
As Madeline continued to go on with her program, she started to notice many students in the audience smiling at the warmth of her words as they started to learn that drug abuse is wrong no matter what.
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