Under the Influence

Under the Influence: The Town That Listened to its Kids, tells how the pleasant town of Kernersville decided to take a peek at its teenage drug problem. Many adults believed that 10% of the high school students abused drugs. However, when the Kernersville News surveyed 1,706 local teens, it was shocked to report that 92% of the respondents believed that “most of the kids in my school use drugs.” Stunned, the townspeople decided to stop waiting for the Government to do...
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Under the Influence: The Town That Listened to its Kids, tells how the pleasant town of Kernersville decided to take a peek at its teenage drug problem. Many adults believed that 10% of the high school students abused drugs. However, when the Kernersville News surveyed 1,706 local teens, it was shocked to report that 92% of the respondents believed that “most of the kids in my school use drugs.” Stunned, the townspeople decided to stop waiting for the Government to do something. Instead, they took the teens out of the backseat and put them in the driver’s seat. What resulted was a grassroots club and 20 students that turned their town right side up. {{Readers become cub reporters and shadow the investigative journalist as she uncovers truths that changed a community.}} This book is based on 15 years of research and 10 years of writing. The original stories won First Place from the North Carolina Press Association.