School: Minister Destiny Testimony Schools Track: Youth Month: 5 of 12 (self-paced: all sections are posted, and you learn at your own pace) Presented by: Minister Destiny Marie Morgan, Muslim Ordained Minister
This lesson is educational information and is not legal advice. Laws vary by state. If you are in danger right now, call 911.
Before you start
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- We never ask your name. Not here, not on the test, not on the certificate. If you earn a certificate, you download it first and write your own name on it after.
- Pass the month test at 80% or higher to earn this month's certificate. You can retake the test as many times as you need — each retake presents the questions in a different order, with the answer choices in a different order too. Answers are not shown — the point is to go back, find what you missed in the lesson, and learn it for real.
- If you are in danger right now: call 911. If you cannot talk out loud, text HOME to 741741 (Crisis Text Line) or call or text 988 any time, day or night.
The lesson
1. How peer pressure actually works
Peer pressure is the push you feel to do what a group is doing so you will fit in, be liked, or avoid being mocked. It rarely sounds like a movie villain saying "do it or else." More often it sounds like laughter when you hesitate, a vape passed around a circle where everyone else has taken a hit, a chant of your name, a joke about being scared, or silence that makes you feel like the odd one out. Sometimes nobody says anything at all — you pressure yourself because you imagine what the group is thinking.
Understanding the mechanics gives you power over them. Groups reward sameness in the moment, which is why the first "no" feels huge and the feeling usually fades within minutes. Most teens overestimate how many of their peers vape, drink, or use drugs — in real surveys, the majority of teens do not. And groups are not as unified as they look: very often, when one person declines calmly, two others quietly feel relieved and decline, too. Your no can be the permission someone else was waiting for.
Pressure also moves online. Challenges, group chats daring someone to film something risky, and photos that make substance use look like the normal price of friendship all work the same way. The screen version adds a record: a video of you using can follow you to coaches, families, and schools long after the night ends.
2. Refusal skills — saying no and keeping your people
You do not need a speech. You need a few short, ready lines and a plan for the next thirty seconds. Keep it simple and warm when you can: "I'm good, thanks." "Nah, I'm not into that." "I've got practice tomorrow, I'm not messing that up." Humor works for many teens: "My lungs already filed a complaint." Changing the activity is often the strongest move of all: "I'm gonna grab food, who's coming?" — you offer the group somewhere else to go, and groups frequently follow whoever has a plan.
If pressure continues, get firmer and shorter: "I said no. I'm serious." Repeat the same calm line instead of debating new arguments — debating invites the group to solve your objections one by one. If you feel cornered, leave: a bathroom break, a text to a trusted adult, a ride home, or a code word arranged with a parent or friend ("text me 'homework' and I'll call with an emergency you have to leave for"). Leaving a risky half hour costs far less than the months of consequences that can follow using.
Also build your exits before the party, game, or hangout: know whose house you are at, keep your phone charged, know your ride, and tell a trusted adult where you will be. A teen with a ride and a reason to leave is much harder to pressure than a teen who feels trapped until someone else decides the night is over.
3. What vaping actually does
Vapes are often sold as flavored, harmless water vapor. They are not. Most vapes contain nicotine, a chemical that changes the teen brain while it is still developing — the brain keeps building focus, mood control, and impulse control into the mid-twenties. Nicotine trains the brain to crave more nicotine, which is why a casual weekend vape can become a daily need for money, hits between classes, and hiding use from family. That craving cycle is called addiction, and it is a property of the drug, not a weakness of the person.
Vaping also irritates lungs, worsens asthma, and can cause coughing, shortness of breath, and chest pain. The flavors hide harshness, which makes deep, frequent inhaling easy. Devices can be shared, refilled, or altered, so a teen may not even know the strength of what they inhaled. Quitting often brings irritability, headaches, trouble concentrating, and strong cravings for days to weeks — unpleasant, temporary, and much easier with support from a trusted adult, a school nurse, or a counselor than alone and in secret.
Money tells part of the story, too. Pods, devices, and replacements add up fast, and dependence means spending first on nicotine and explaining later. School consequences add more: vaping at school is commonly punished with suspension and loss of activities, and coaches remove athletes for it. None of that arrives with the first hit — it accumulates, which is exactly why the first decisions matter most.
4. Alcohol, marijuana, and pills — plain facts
Alcohol slows the brain and body, lowers judgment, and makes injuries, fights, unsafe rides, and risky sexual situations far more likely. Teen brains are more sensitive to alcohol's harm and less sensitive to its sleepy warning signals, which makes drinking too much — alcohol poisoning — a real danger. Signs include vomiting, slow or irregular breathing, pale or bluish skin, confusion, and being unable to wake up. That is a 911 call, immediately. Turn the person on their side if you can do so safely, and stay — leaving someone to "sleep it off" can be fatal.
Marijuana is often described as harmless because it is a plant or because adults somewhere use it legally. For teens, regular use is linked in research to problems with memory, learning, motivation, and mood, and today's products are far stronger than in the past. Driving after using marijuana, or riding with a driver who has used alcohol or drugs, multiplies crash risk. The ride rule is absolute: never ride with an impaired driver. Call a trusted adult, use your code word, wait, walk with others in a safe area if that is truly safer — but do not get in that car.
Pills deserve a special warning. A pill that does not come from a pharmacy, handed to you by a friend or bought through social media, may not be what it claims to be at all. That leads directly to the next section, the most important one in this month.
5. Fentanyl — the danger, in plain terms
Fentanyl is an extremely strong opioid drug. A tiny amount — about the size of a few grains of salt — can stop a person's breathing. It is being mixed into fake pills made to look like real prescription medicine, and sometimes into other drugs, without the person taking them knowing it is there. That means a teen can die the first time, from one pill, believing they took something familiar. There is no safe way to tell by looking, smelling, or tasting whether fentanyl is present.
Because of fentanyl, this school's rules are strict and simple. Never take a pill that was not given to you by a pharmacist or a trusted adult who got it from a pharmacy. Never share prescription medicine, even with a friend in pain — their "same pill from home" may not be the same at all. If a friend becomes hard to wake, breathes slowly or stops, has blue or gray lips, or will not respond, call 911 immediately, say exactly what you know about what they took, and stay with them. Calling for help fast is the difference that saves lives, and fear of getting in trouble must never delay that call.
Adults in many schools and communities now carry naloxone, a medicine that can reverse an opioid overdose if given quickly. You do not need to manage that yourself — your job is the fast 911 call, clear information, and not leaving the person alone.
6. Helping a friend, and getting help yourself
If a friend is starting to use regularly — vaping daily, drinking every weekend, changing friends, dropping grades, needing money, hiding use — say something early and privately: "I've noticed you vape every break now and you seem stressed without it. I'm worried about you." Offer to go with them to a counselor or school nurse. If a friend is pressuring others, you can refuse for yourself and still remain kind to the person: boundaries about behavior are not rejection of the human being.
If you are the one using and you want to stop, that wanting counts. Tell a trusted adult, a counselor, or your school nurse, or call SAMHSA at 1-800-662-4357 for confidential information and referrals. If substances and hard feelings are tangled together, 988 is there as well. What NOT to do: do not carry, hold, or sell substances for anyone — holding for a friend transfers the legal and school consequences to you. Do not try to drive or "handle" a medical emergency yourself without calling 911. And do not keep a friend's dangerous use as a loyalty secret. Like every safety secret in this school, this one goes to a trusted adult, because protecting a friend's life outranks protecting a friend's habit.
Words to know — Month 5
- Peer pressure — the push to match a group's behavior in order to fit in or avoid being mocked.
- Refusal skills — short, practiced words and actions for saying no and leaving a pressured situation safely.
- Nicotine — the addictive chemical in cigarettes and most vapes that changes the developing brain's craving system.
- Addiction — a cycle where the brain craves a substance and stopping brings withdrawal, despite harm.
- Alcohol poisoning — a medical emergency from drinking too much, shown by vomiting, slow breathing, and being unable to wake up.
- Fentanyl — an extremely strong opioid; a tiny amount can stop breathing, and it is hidden in fake pills.
- Impaired driver — a driver affected by alcohol or drugs, making a ride with them unsafe at any speed.
- Code word — a pre-arranged word or text that tells a trusted person you need an exit or help right away.
Myths vs facts — Month 5
- Myth: Everybody vapes or drinks — you are the only one who doesn't. Fact: Most teens do not vape daily or drink regularly. Groups make use look universal because the users are the loudest. The quiet majority is easy to miss.
- Myth: Vaping is just flavored water vapor and is basically harmless. Fact: Most vapes deliver nicotine, which addicts the developing brain, plus chemicals that irritate lungs. The flavor hides harshness; it does not remove harm.
- Myth: A pill from a friend is safe if it looks like a real prescription pill. Fact: Fake pills made to look real may contain fentanyl, and there is no way to tell by sight. A tiny amount can stop breathing. Only take medicine that comes from a pharmacy through a trusted adult.
- Myth: A good friend would never tell an adult about a friend's drug use. Fact: Dangerous use is a safety secret. Telling a trusted adult is how a friend gets support before an accident, addiction, or overdose. Loyalty protects the person, not the habit.
What would you do? — Month 5
The situation: At a small hangout at a classmate's house, a vape starts going around your circle on the porch. Two friends have taken hits. The person next to you holds it out and says your name with a grin. A couple of people laugh and one starts filming "for the story." You do not want to vape, and you really do not want to be filmed doing it.
Walk it through:
- Use your simplest line first. "I'm good, thanks," said calmly, while keeping your hands down and passing the moment along. Most circles move on within seconds when the answer sounds relaxed and final.
- Do not explain or apologize at length. Long defenses invite debate and keep the camera on you. If filming continues, add one firm line: "Don't film me. I'm serious."
- Change the scene. Stand up and offer a plan: "I'm grabbing snacks inside — who's coming?" Movement breaks the circle, the camera, and the pressure all at once.
- If pressure follows you inside, use your exit. Text your trusted adult your code word, step outside to wait for your ride, and leave. A short awkward exit tonight protects your lungs, your record, and your reputation for months.
- Later, think about the friendship math. Friends who accept a no are keepable. Anyone who keeps pushing, filming, or mocking a no has shown you a red flag worth believing — adjust how much access they get to you.
Try this — Month 5
Build your refusal kit today, while no one is watching. First, pick three lines that sound like you — one light ("I'm good, thanks"), one reason-based ("I've got a game tomorrow, not risking it"), and one firm ("I said no, I'm serious") — and say each one out loud twice. Second, set up your exit: save a code word with one trusted adult and one friend, keep your phone charged on nights out, and know your ride home before you arrive anywhere. Third, do a quick reality check: write down your honest guess of how many teens vape daily, then compare it to this lesson's fact that most teens do not. Noticing the gap between the loud picture and the real numbers makes the next circle on a porch much easier to stand in.
Resources to keep — Month 5
- 911 — call immediately for alcohol poisoning, an overdose, or anyone who will not wake up or is breathing slowly.
- 988 (call/text) — call or text 988 any time substances and hard feelings are tangled together, or you need support.
- Crisis Text Line — text HOME to 741741 to talk by text when you need help deciding what to do.
- SAMHSA — 1-800-662-4357 — confidential information and referrals for substance use help, for yourself or a friend.
- Poison Control — 1-800-222-1222 — fast guidance if someone swallowed an unknown pill or substance and is still awake and breathing.
- Childhelp — 1-800-422-4453 — help if substance use at home is making home unsafe.
- Your school counselor or school nurse — judgment-free first steps and local resources to keep.
What you earned / what's next — Month 5
✅ Month 5 complete (test score 80% or higher): You can explain how peer pressure works, use short refusal lines and a planned exit without a speech, describe what vaping, alcohol, and other substances do to a teen body and brain, state the fentanyl rule with no exceptions, and help a friend by bringing in a trusted adult early.
What's next: Month 6 — Mental Health — Feeling Overwhelmed, Asking for Help, Staying Safe. Next month brings these skills together: what to do when the pressure is not from a group, but from feelings that feel like too much.
Minister Destiny Testimony Schools — Youth. Lessons are educational information, written in plain language. If you or someone you know is in danger, call 911. Help lines: 988 (call/text) · Crisis Text Line (text HOME to 741741) · Childhelp 1-800-422-4453.