At a certain school in my home town, there was a contest amongst several student candidates to determine who would be Mr./Mrs. Drug free (who would go and educate younger students about drug issues and why or how not to use drugs). The students worked on several activities and earned points for how well they did. The student with the most points in the end would take the title of Mr./Mrs. Drug free. Two particular students were basically neck and neck throughout the entire competition. They scored relatively the same in all the activities, including the interviews, the anti-drug posters, and others. However, one of the students began collecting money throughout the school for the organization that sponsored the Mr. Drug free program (being as he was a member himself). When people asked him what the fund raising was for, he responded simply that it was for that specific organization. Keep that in mind for later.

One of the point-earning activities in the competition was to sell a desert that had an anti-drug theme by auctioning it off at lunch. The student who went around asking for money to the organization used all of the money that he collected, planted it in the audience, and had them buy his cake. The students cake was about four inches long and six inches wide (that's pretty small for a cake). It was shaped somewhat like a ...well....butt and was frosted with the words "say no to crack." Clever, but no one will ever know how much money it would have really gotten. Needless to say, the student crushed his competition (which included many deserts that must have taken many hours to make) and because of those extra points that he "earned", he also beat the student that he was running neck and neck with overall. Being as I was a friend of both the student that won and the student that took second place him, I found out not only about the crooked auction, but I also found out two other disturbing things. One: the student that came in second actually put money in the other students collection basket (or in other words, unknowingly helped defeat himself when he had nothing but good intentions for the organization). Two: The student who won the competition had actually asked the club organizer (also a student councilor) if he could put his collected money into his auction and the organizer approved! What on earth possesses these people to think that they can go about life with this sort of attitude? I'm not sure, but these students were 17-18 years old and are going to soon become voters or politicians. I know that there is a bit of a gap between running for Congress and running for Mr. Drug free, but what students learn in school (especially high school) they tend to carry into real life and with the support of a parent, mentor or school councilor, a student might think that it is o.k. to use crooked, clever moves or the powers of deception, money, and influence to pull ahead. I'm not trying to blow the proportions of a high school Mr. Drug free contest out of hand here, but my question to you is can you see an injustice here in that situation and can you think of that kind of injustice anywhere else at any time that you can remember? Please do respond and take my poll as well. Thank you for your time. Oh and just for the record, I'm not trying to indirectly bash any particular political person, party, or standpoint. Also, please read and participate in my poll if you can find it. Thanks.