Every year Steve Fitzhugh speaks to thousands of students about the importance of making good decisions and living a drug-free lifestyle. As a former Denver Bronco and current spokesman for FCA’s One Way 2 Play—Drug Free! program, he has seen and heard it all.

FCA Senior Vice President Dan Britton sat down with Fitzhugh in honor of One Way 2 Play! month to get the scoop on what’s really going on in America’s schools, and what needs to happen to get back on track…

DB: What is the reality in the lives of America’s young people as it relates to substance abuse?

SF: The reality is quite different than the perceived reality. A lot of people think that students have some interaction with poor decision-making as a result of a few bad apples. But the reality is that a number of students encounter daily the opportunity to either say yes or no to decisions that could dramatically impact their lives as it relates to whether or not they smoke, drink, skip class, do drugs or run with a certain crowd. And depending on the influence, they can go either way in each case.

DB: When you do One Way 2 Play! assemblies, what is the biggest surprise for the administrators and adults who are there?

SF: You know, the administrators and teachers are astounded that a number of students are already involved in alcoholism, in losing their purity, in casual flings and in trial drug-use.

DB: In your program, you talk about the difference between peer pressure and peer influence. Can you explain that?

SF: Well, the reality is that most people don’t have to lose to peer pressure. And the easiest way to take the air out of peer pressure is to just be yourself.

What students are most vulnerable to is peer influence. It’s not so much someone forcing them through pressure. “You need to drink. You need to smoke.” But they’ll be at a party where it seems like everyone is drinking but them, and they’re influenced to simply go with the flow.

I try to pull out the aspect of the student’s character that really wants to succeed. And I try to applaud that part of them that really wants a life. Then they can have the courage to say to themselves, “You know what? It’s alright to be drug-free. It’s okay to go against the flow. It doesn’t mean I’m weird. It doesn’t mean I’m stupid or a wimp. It simply means that I’m one of the ones who’s chosen to soar like an eagle instead of being stuck on the ground with the chickens.’”

DB: You mentioned “going with the flow.” You talk a lot about that in your assemblies as well. Why does that resonate so well with students?

SF: In the assemblies, I often talk about how easy it is for any old, dead fish to go with the flow. It takes a live fish to go against the flow. Students resonate with that because they see it all the time. They have friends who exhibit behavior that they know really doesn’t represent who they are. They’re simply going with the flow. And they realize, “You know, I’m not one of those kinds of people who should be giving into this. I can go against the flow. I can make my own decisions.”

DB: What would you say to the kid who claims to be “just experimenting”? Why the big concern over just one drink or cigarette?

SF: I’m concerned about the student who takes that approach. “I’m just in high school. It’s just one cigarette. It’s just one beer. It’s just one party.” Every alcoholic has the same thing in common—that first drink. They never knew that that first drink would lead to the devastation that they experienced the rest of their lives. Unfortunately, we never know that a tiny compromise today will lead to years of devastation. And sometimes students, for the sake of being cool, will make just that one compromise, and it will begin to make demands on them for the rest of their lives.

DB: You use a lot of humor in your presentation. Why do you do that instead of scaring students with facts and figures?

SF: I take 10 minutes just to earn the right to be heard by them. I’ll hang out with them. I’ll make jokes. Because so often they have so much pressure on them. I want to get them to the point where it’s okay to laugh. And then when their hearts are opened up, I have the opportunity to drop some very poignant thoughts into their hearts.

DB: What have you heard as far as feedback from the kids?

SF: One very consistent responses I get is, “Wow. It wasn’t just another boring assembly with some authority figure pounding information into our heads.” Their response typically is, “Thank you for taking the time to come down to our level and reason with us.” And that makes a difference. For example, one student said, “On my way home, some guys asked me to smoke a cigarette. All I could think about was that you said smoking was nasty. And I told them smoking is nasty.”

Another young lady was dropping out of school that day, and she stayed just for the assembly. In tears, she came up to me after the assembly and said, “You know what? I was dropping out of school today. I was doing it because I was acting like a chicken. And I’m not a chicken. I’m an eagle. Chickens don’t fly.”

DB: Why is it so important for Christian kids to take a stand? What Bible verses empower and encourage them to do that?

SF: People are always talking to students who have a faith relationship about their taking a stand, but I think it’s so much bigger than that. It’s not just about them. It’s about people they have an opportunity to influence. I won’t be at every school, but the students are there. And it’s not about their qualification to make a difference. God has already called them to make a difference in their conversations—in the way they take a stand. Proverbs 28:1 says, “the righteous are as bold as a lion.” I think God depends on us to be bold because there’s somebody walking down that hall, somebody with a locker next to theirs who needs to know that there is a forgiving, all-loving, all-knowing God.

DB: You’ve been through a lot personally. Does that also help you to connect with kids?

SF: You know, I had no idea that when I saw my mom die from cigarette-induced cancer that God would allow my heart to break for the students who were taking their first cigarette. I had no idea that when I saw my brother Raymond die from cocaine abuse that, again, my heart would be sensitized to students who were beginning the trek of chemically induced addiction.

There’s been a number of things throughout my personal life that I didn’t know that years later would become the focal points by which I could touch the hearts and lives of students. Suicide, divorced parents, alcoholism, marijuana abuse, drug abuse, dysfunctional family—all of those elements of my personal life have now become beachheads by which I can launch into the lives of students all around America.

DB: In One Way 2 Play!, the acronym of FCA stands for not only Fellowship of Christian Athletes, but also for Faith, Commitment and Accountability. Let’s talk about the component of Faith. Why is that important to One Way 2 Play!?

SF: I think faith is very important because you have to believe that if you make the right decisions today, all the right things in life will somehow end up back at your feet. You have to believe that so much that you take the leap of faith. If it means disassociating yourself with certain friends. If it means changing your behavior. If it means a new resolve. You have to have faith to at least begin that journey.

Faith also is important as a Christian because you take the leap of faith in believing that Jesus really did give His life for you. If you believe that and take that leap of faith, it’s almost as if right away the power of understanding will be revealed in your life, and you can now take the stand against those things that take away from excellence in your life.

Faith in Jesus Christ. Trusting that He is going to empower you to stand, to overcome, to fight and to be the champion that you were called to be.

DB: What about the second component of Commitment?

SF: You have to draw the line. There has to be a point in your life where you make a conscious decision to choose not to be a drinker. You choose not to do cigarettes. Most people who give in to that first cigarette, that first smoke of weed, that first drink are typically students who have never said, “I’m not going to do those things.”

DB: And Accountability. Why is that so important to the program?

SF: One of the most vulnerable positions in life is to be a lone ranger. To be out there just drifting between decisions. It really helps to walk with someone and to have a friend who can encourage you when you’re weak, and someone you can encourage when they’re weak.

But be very selective about who you spend time with. Show me who you hang out with, and I can tell you what you’ll become. You might say, “Well, I’m not influenced easily by my friends.” You’re influenced more easily than you believe. The fact is that we’re surrounded by influences. If you have a friend who puts a cigarette in your face, or is putting a beer in your face, or wants you to do some drugs, they’re not your friend. Choose people who really want you to be the absolute best that you can be.

DB: If I could grant you, right now, the ability to be in front of every single teenager in the world for 30 seconds, what would you say to them?

SF: If I had 30 seconds, I’d simply say this: God loves you so much. All He wants to do is love you. Choose to love Him back. Seek His face. Find out what His path is for your life. You’ll never know fulfillment until you understand what that plan is for you. And latch onto it and don’t let go. That’s the only way you’ll know what is true and what is not. There are so many counterfeit emotions, counterfeit feelings, counterfeit philosophies. You have to hold on to what is true. Because only what is true is going to last.

For more information on the OW2P! program, contact your local FCA staff person, call 1-800-289-0909 or e-mail fca@fca.org.

Check out Steve Fitzhugh's website at http://www.powermoves.org/.