Good Choices Equal

Good Results

One of the hardest things for all of us, and especially you teenagers, is to make the good choices. When I am speaking at schools or conferences, one of my favorite quotes I use is: "It's time to make the decision that is right, not the decision that is liked!"

As a teenager, nothing will steal your Mojo faster than making some bad decisions! This is the place where you see students quickly identify themselves as either a Thermometer or a Thermostat! They either conform to everybody around them or they take a stand and do what is right!

There are 4 areas where you have to guard your MOJO or you can lose it fast!

Bullies and Gossip

Every school has its fair share of bullies and gossipers, but I challenge the fact that people desire to be that way.

Bullies are typically people that have first been picked on, and have some form of self esteem challenges, so they like to take it out on other people.

However you know that it isn't right to treat people that way. Just because someone has done it to you doesn't mean you have to do the same thing back to them.The problem is that approximately 30% of teenagers are being bullied!

Statistically this group of people are 4 times more likely to commit a crime!

When you begin to develop a habit of treating people bad, it doesn't stop.

Before you know it, it will lead to more fighting criminal behavior.

Gossipers are people I call Haters... or MOJO Vampires. All they do is try to suck the life out of people! They are negative and unproductive. Normally, the more somebody talks about other people the more they spread rumors. It just shows they don't have much confidence in themselves. You must realize you can really hurt people by the things you say.

Have you ever heard that saying "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me"? However, our words are powerful. I know teens that became so depressed because of what was being said about them they started self-mutilization. Some of them used that as their excuse to drink or do drugs. Although they still shouldn't do those things, it is important that you realize how much your words can help, or in this case, hurt somebody!

"Our destiny is determined by the daily choices we make and the actions we take." Travis Brown

MOJO Makers compliment people, they lift people up, they help people out.

They are looking to make a positive difference! When a MOJO Maker hears rumors, they put them to an end. They confront people about how much negativity they are spreading. So stop talking bad about people, even if it's true, instead use Mom's Golden Rule: If you don't have anything good to say about somebody, don't say anything at all.

Teen Relationships

This is a tough one and I know most of you are already turning your ears off!

Hold on a second. Let me just share the FACTS with you. You don't have to believe me, but the FACTS are the TRUTH!

As a teenager, you have your whole life ahead of you to establish a relationship. The choices you make in these relationships can and will affect the rest of your life. Did you know that 1 out of every 2 people will contract an STD by age 25? Between you and your best friend, statistically speaking one of you will contract an STD! What if you were the one? Can you imagine that before you get married you have to tell your fiance that you have an STD? How Fifty-two percent (52%) of teens report that they have sexually active friends.

Among the 33.9% of currently sexually active high school students nationwide, 23.3% have used alcohol or drugs before their last sexual intercourse.

In the U.S., 1 in 4 sexually active teens become infected with an STD every year. Some common STDs are Chlamydia, gonorrhea, genital warts (also known as HPV - human papilloma virus), and herpes.

Nineteen (19) million new STD infections occur each year, almost half of them among young people ages 15 to 24.

1 in 2 sexually active teens will contract an STD by age 25.

Nationally, nearly one million young women under age 20 become pregnant each year. That means close to 2800 teens get pregnant each day.

Approximately 4 in 10 young women in the U.S. become pregnant at least once before turning 20 years old.

fun would it be if you were one of the 2,800 teens that will be having a baby this year? Or for the guys, your girlfriend will be having a baby and the two of you will be tied together for the rest of your life, good or bad.

Take time to think about these decisions because they will have an impact on the rest of your life!

DRUGS, DRUGS, DRUGS

When I say drugs I mean ALL of them; any kind, any shape or form. There are millions of teenagers that have taken a stand against doing drugs and I am proud of them! It's not easy, I know, but it is the best thing for your life!

Smoking

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit" Aristotle Approximately 80% of adult smokers started smoking before the age of 18.

Every day, nearly 3,000 young people under the age of 18 become regular smokers.

More than 5 million children living today will die prematurely because of a decision they will make as adolescents---the decision to smoke cigarettes.

(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Tobacco is often the first drug used by young people who use alcohol and illegal drugs.

Among young people, those with poorer grades and lower self-images are more likely to begin using tobacco.

Alcohol National Statistics:

Drugs

More than five million high school students binge drink (consume five or more alcoholic drinks in one sitting) at least once a month.

Individuals who begin drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to become alcohol-dependent than those who begin drinking at age 21.

In 2000, there were 2,339 alcohol-related fatalities among youth ages 15-20.

Eight young people die each day in alcohol-related crashes.

The most abused drug in the United States is alcohol, but many people don't even think of alcohol as a drug.

More than 40% of teens who admitted drinking said they drink when they are upset; 31% said they drink alone; 25% said they drink when they are bored; and 25% said they drink to "get high."

Sixty percent of college women diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease were drunk at the time of infection.

Marijuana was a contributing factor in more than 110,000 emergency department visits in the United States in 2001. About 15% of the patients were between the ages of 12 and 17 and almost two-thirds were male.

The Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA) found that adolescents who smoke pot are 85 times more likely to use cocaine than their non-smoking peers. They also found that 60% of adolescents who use marijuana before age 15 later go on to use cocaine.

The Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) has found that marijuana is the most frequently reported drug in emergency department visits related to drug abuse among youth age 12 to 19.

In 2001, about 38,000 high school seniors in the U.S. reported that they crashed while driving under the influence of marijuana.

One out of five students in America has used an inhalant to get high by the 8th grade.

Fifty-five percent of the deaths linked to inhalant abuse are caused by Sudden Sniffing Death Syndrome, which can occur on the first use or any use.

Fifty-three percent of juvenile male and 38% of juvenile female arrestees tested positive for marijuana in 1999.

When I was growing up there was this commercial about drugs: There was a frying pan on a stove and the announcer said, "This is your brain". Then they cracked some eggs in the frying pan and as you watched the eggs frying, the announcer said, "This is your brain on drugs, any questions?"

I put this section in the book to remind each one of you. Although drugs seem appealing and they seem to be an easy way to "take the edge off" of life, IF you come down from your high, whether that is smoking, drinking, home created inhalants, marijuana or anything else, life is still there. The real solution is to find a better way to handle the stresses of life.

We are all going to have stress, but the choices YOU make are going to determine where you end up in life! So choose life, choose to make smart decisions and choose success for you!