The acronym now stands for Students Against Destructive Decisions. Corcoran has headed the group for the last two years, though it had become somewhat predictable, even ineffectual. They would put up posters, and hold bake sales to cover the costs of posters and markers, Corcoran recalled. This year, they decided to make a statement—and make it loud.
“Kids were like, ‘what is this?’” Corcoran recalled on the day she and her fellow SADD members handed out dime bags—printed with skull and crossbones on the back—to nearly every student. Inside each bag was a single Lifesaver candy and a fact about marijuana along the lines of: Marijuana compromises the ability to learn and remember information.
“I think it was an awesome concept,” senior Mark McCormack wrote in an e mail about the campaign. “It was edgy. We need to do more edgy things, because it will never go unnoticed,” he added.
The idea also raised a few eyebrows among the faculty. “Some people worried about the representation of the bag,” explained James Randle, coordinator of student activities.
It was exactly that representation—the traditional vehicle for $10 worth of marijuana—that piqued students’ interest enough to make the message stick, said Victor Alia, the 17 year old senior who hatched the idea at a brainstorming session.
“They (the students) would open the bags and read the facts, and that’s kind of the whole point of it,” he said.
Randle commends the students of SADD for giving up their lunch periods each Wednesday to plan activities, many of which are more traditional than the baggie campaign.
On Dec. 20, they kept the lights on in the building until 11 p.m. as part of a national day raising awareness of the dangers of drunken driving. They have also welcomed speakers from Alcoholics and Narcotics Anonymous to speak in the classroom.
The chapter was founded in 2003 by a student whose family was affected by a drunken driver. Under Corcoran’s lead, it has enjoyed renewed interest and stronger membership than ever before.
Randle noted SADD is one of the more autonomous student groups in the school, taking little direction from advisers. He also suggests that their work to shed light on drug use and difficult social issues is helping combat what he calls “one of the biggest crimes of public education,” or the fact that health education isn’t taught in most city schools until senior year. By that time, he noted, many students have already been forced to make tough choices.
The S.A.D.D. chapter has already scheduled the baggie campaign for the next school year. In the meantime, members are working on launching an alternative Valentine’s Day card campaign where students can buy a bracelet—and a lifelong pledge of friendship—for $1 a piece.
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