Photo by Charmain Z. Brackett Michael Reed with Fort Gordon's ASAP speaks to a group of seventh graders at Freedom Park Elementary School on Oct. 30 during Red Ribbon Drug Week. When Michael Reed talks about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse, he doesn't use a textbook.

"When people start drinking at 15 years-old or younger, they are five times more likely to have problems. From personal experience, I know. I lost a lot of jobs and ended up in jail," said Reed, who is with Fort Gordon's Army Substance Abuse Program and spoke to sixth through eighth graders at Freedom Park Elementary School during Red Ribbon Drug Week last week.

Reed's 21 year-old brother went drinking one night.

"He rolled his vehicle and spent 72 days in the hospital before he died," said Reed.

Reed spoke to the students in three different 30-minute sessions.

Instead of providing the children with a lot of facts and figures, he spoke straight from the heart and used practical applications to help them understand the risks of abusing alcohol and drugs.

Reed asked for two good ball players from the crowd. When two responded, he gave them each a pair of special goggles used to simulate the affects of alcohol.

Before they put on the goggles, Reed gave each of them a ball and asked them to throw the ball to the other boy. They did with no problem; however, when they donned the glasses it wasn't so easy.

When Reed asked them to throw the balls then, they each missed their target by a large distance.

With the goggles still on, the boys tried another task, walking along the painted line on the gym floor. They weren't even close to being straight on it.

The presentations were part of a week long observance to keep children drug free.

Also, there was a poster contest. Winners in the second grader were Jalyn Bradley, first and Xiamore Salas, second; in third grade, Dakota May, first, and Jessica Curtis, second; and in fourth grade, Allessandrea Bethea, first, and Antonio Gonzalez, second.