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Cutting edge MPD program targets middle schoolers
By Chris McGathey/Staff writer
A new, cutting-edge police program is getting the attention of some Mesquite ISD middle school students.
The program titled “What If” is a concoction of stunning visuals and audio to relay the message to students of consequences from drinking, drug use, and violence.
Officers with the Mesquite Police Department will travel to all eight middle school campuses this year. On Wednesday, the program was at Kimbrough Middle School.
Issues facing young teens today include drugs, alcohol and violence, to name a few. The program also integrates high school students from Mesquite, North Mesquite, Poteet and West Mesquite High Schools to relay the message through singing and acting.
Officers began producing the program back in June. The program begins with a short video titled “Be Good Johnny,” which encourages students to remember to be respectful and study hard to get good grades and avoid hanging out with the wrong crowds.
The program’s second montage is a bit longer and chronicles some high school students using drugs and alcohol at a house party, which gets out of hand after one student shoots another classmate. The montage bounces back and forth, using real-time reactions from students and movie clips before concluding with a clip of a funeral service and real casket, to drive home the message that every action has a reaction.
Each high schooler had a very important message for the middle schools, like Mesquite High’s Hailey Bradshaw, who said, “Teens go through stuff like this all the time. So make the right choice to save your own life.”
Tossed into the program is a message from Dallas Police Officer Tony Crawford, who was injured in the line of duty in 1991 when a bullet hit his spine. Crawford, who is now paralyzed, discussed the actions that two teenage boys took which changed his life.
“This is a deal where a majority of police officers would rather spend an hour on doing something positive with these young people, than respond to something tragic that involves these students,” Crawford said. “Saving one life makes any program worthwhile.”
West Mesquite Student Resource Officer Jeff French, who emceed the program, said the program is designed to make students think. Officer Kyle Griffin, who produced much of the video for the program, said the idea was to make the program cutting-edge to the point where it not only gained the attention of students but it also relayed a very important message.
And the students agree.
“Don’t do drugs, and make the right decisions,” said Kimbrough seventh-grader Rocky Herrera, regarding what she learned. “I think talking about violence and fighting was real important because that is a critical topic.”
Contact Chris McGathey at cmcgathey@acnpapers.com
The program titled “What If” is a concoction of stunning visuals and audio to relay the message to students of consequences from drinking, drug use, and violence.
Officers with the Mesquite Police Department will travel to all eight middle school campuses this year. On Wednesday, the program was at Kimbrough Middle School.
Issues facing young teens today include drugs, alcohol and violence, to name a few. The program also integrates high school students from Mesquite, North Mesquite, Poteet and West Mesquite High Schools to relay the message through singing and acting.
Officers began producing the program back in June. The program begins with a short video titled “Be Good Johnny,” which encourages students to remember to be respectful and study hard to get good grades and avoid hanging out with the wrong crowds.
The program’s second montage is a bit longer and chronicles some high school students using drugs and alcohol at a house party, which gets out of hand after one student shoots another classmate. The montage bounces back and forth, using real-time reactions from students and movie clips before concluding with a clip of a funeral service and real casket, to drive home the message that every action has a reaction.
Each high schooler had a very important message for the middle schools, like Mesquite High’s Hailey Bradshaw, who said, “Teens go through stuff like this all the time. So make the right choice to save your own life.”
Tossed into the program is a message from Dallas Police Officer Tony Crawford, who was injured in the line of duty in 1991 when a bullet hit his spine. Crawford, who is now paralyzed, discussed the actions that two teenage boys took which changed his life.
“This is a deal where a majority of police officers would rather spend an hour on doing something positive with these young people, than respond to something tragic that involves these students,” Crawford said. “Saving one life makes any program worthwhile.”
West Mesquite Student Resource Officer Jeff French, who emceed the program, said the program is designed to make students think. Officer Kyle Griffin, who produced much of the video for the program, said the idea was to make the program cutting-edge to the point where it not only gained the attention of students but it also relayed a very important message.
And the students agree.
“Don’t do drugs, and make the right decisions,” said Kimbrough seventh-grader Rocky Herrera, regarding what she learned. “I think talking about violence and fighting was real important because that is a critical topic.”
Contact Chris McGathey at cmcgathey@acnpapers.com
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