Jared Werth In late April I happened to meet Jared Werth. Before I tell you how I met him, let me give you a little bit of background on Jared. Jared is from Lebanon Pennsylvania, and I would say that he had an average childhood. He grew up in a loving family, and according to both Jared and his parents, “he was always a happy kid!” Jared would be considered a typical young boy from Lebanon, but when he got to high school, that is when he really rose to the top. Jared was (is?) an excellent runner. He excelled in Cross Country at Lebanon High School, and he qualified for and ran in states all four years in high school. Jared also excelled in track, and he was a real asset to the Lebanon High School Track Team. According to Jared, he was also a “decent” wrestler in high school and he won about two-thirds of his wrestling matches. In addition to being a good athlete, Jared was also a good student. By his own admission, he could have done better in school, but he still was an A/B student. In Jared’s senior year, he was offered scholarships for his running abilities to Millersville, Kutztown, Bloomsburg, and Shippensburg. Jared was happy with that, but he wanted to run with the top dogs, so he decided to apply to Temple University. Jared was accepted to Temple where the Temple Coach told him that he would take him on the team as a walk-on. At this point, Jared was on top of the world and he had a great future lying ahead of him, but he had a bit of a problem that would shatter his world. In Jared’s sophomore year he started drinking, on weekends at first, only as a social drinker, but that didn’t last long. Jared told me that he was a fierce competitor - he wanted to be the best at running, he hated to lose a board game, so naturally he had to be the best drinker! Jared thought that he was controlling his alcohol consumption, but what he didn’t realize was that alcohol was controlling him. He did become the best drinker, and he felt that alcohol wasn’t causing him any problems in life. An arrest in August of 2002 (between his senior year of high school and his freshman year at Temple) for underage drinking and Driving Under the Influence was a minor set back, and that wouldn’t interfere with his plans. Jared was given an ARD, an informal probation that could be expunged from his record if he successfully completed the terms of his probation. Jared set off for Temple and things continued to go down hill. When Jared got to Temple he decided that he didn’t want to run because “there were parties every night of the week, and he was going to have a good time!” He made it through one semester at Temple, and then he went home with no credits from college – partying had taken its’ toll on his education. In the spring of 2003 Jared was caught drinking underage once again, so his probation was revoked. He served a little bit of time for this violation, and then he was re-paroled. Jared’s life was arrest free until July of 2003 when he was arrested once again for underage drinking. This led to another parole revocation and eventual re-parole. Jared was trouble free until April of 2005 when he rolled his car on Interstate 81 in Schuylkill County, injuring himself and three of his friends. Jared was charged with his second DUI, and life really went down hill then. Lebanon County revoked his parole and had him serve his maximum time in the Lebanon County Prison. While he was serving his time in Lebanon County, he was still facing his sentencing in Schuylkill County. April 18th of 2006 is when I met Jared – he was in Judge Domalakes Courtroom pleading guilty to his second DUI, and a charge of Accidents involving Death or Injury. As Judge Domalakes went through the sentencing with Jared, I was surprised to hear Jared say that he went to Temple. He struck me as an articulate and smart young man, and after he was sentenced I asked him how he got from Temple to the Schuylkill County Jail. As he left the Courtroom he told me that “he lost his focus” and that is how he got to this point. I was intrigued by this, and I followed this up in a conversation later that week. Jared told me that when he should have been focusing on running, wrestling, and academics, he chose to focus on beer. He told me that he really loved beer, and he didn’t see any harm in his social drinking. Jared realized too late that beer was his priority, and everything else was second to that. When I had my conversation with Jared, he had been in Jail for 21 of the lat 24 months – that is a long time to spend behind bars for drinking! Jared regrets what he has done and how his life had turned out, and he was very open and honest in his talk with me. I asked him how he felt about being in jail, and here is what he wrote: “There are a lot of things that I miss in my life – I miss being able to give my mom a hug, or going to play a round of golf with my dad. I miss not being able to kiss my girlfriend goodnight, or to go out to the movies with a bunch of my friends. I miss my freedom! I miss not being able to spend my birthday with my family, but having to call them collect from Jail on those days. I miss the simplicity of just going for a walk and smelling the fresh air, feeling a nice breeze and observing the world around me. And I really miss cheese steaks, Buffalo wings and Chinese food – jail takes all of that away from you. You are taken away from all of the comforts of life and put into a place where you have no privacy to shower or to go to the bathroom. You are around a lot of dirty people with negative attitudes, and they feed on others peoples misery and they try to bring you down. The food is crappy and they never give you enough. You are always hungry unless you buy form the commissary, which is crazily overpriced. The worst thing about jail is that you are taken away form the people that you love. You only get visits once a week, and that is through glass, over a phone, and only for an hour. A hug or a kiss is totally impossible because of the rule of never having contact! Jail is a very depressing place. You even have to be careful about sending your laundry out to be washed because people in jail will steal your socks. That may not sound like such a horrible thing to a person who has never been in jail, but when you are in jail you hold your few possessions dear because you just can’t go to the store and buy more. If I could go back in time, I would change from going in a positive direction to a negative direction. I wouldn’t let myself shift my main focus of succeeding in life to being the best partier. I wouldn’t take for granted all of the respect I earned over 18 years, and all of the things that I accomplished and then threw away. If I could change the past, I would be graduating from Temple University this year and remembering all of my successes on the track! Instead of four years at Temple, I opted for too many years in jail.” Jared’s parents are suffering too. They don’t have their only child at home, and it is tough to visit him in jail once a week. They have some financial hardships in legal fees, and their phone bill is over $800.00 per month since Jared has to call home collect. From age sixteen to now, Jared has really tested his parents love, but they are anxious for him to get home and start his life all over again. They realize that it won’t be easy, but they are willing to do whatever it takes to get Jared back on the right track. They have a lot of hope for him, and I do too! You might be wondering why a kid from Lebanon gets to tell his story on the Schuylkill DARE Website! For the past 16 years I have been telling the kids in our area about all of the bad things that can happen to you if you let alcohol take over your life. Bad things can happen to good people, and Jared Werth’s story really makes the point of losing everything when you choose to use alcohol. Jared had it all and he threw it away for beer and partying. He has really hit the bottom, but he is confident that he can recover from this. Some day when you are thinking about having a “harmless beer,” think about Jared, what he had, what he lost, and maybe his story will help you to make a wise decision. Do I think that Jared is a bad person – no, far from it. Jared is basically a good kid who made some terrible choices, and now it is up to him to recover and salvage a good life for himself. He can turn his life around, but now he has to tread lightly, choose wisely, and always remember that one beer can land him back in jail. Jared is facing five years probation when he gets out in July, and he really has to toe the line. He is optimistic about his future, and I wish him the best in the years to come. Jared is a young man who had it all, threw it away, and now has to start again from square one. I hope to write in a few months that Jared is out of jail, in college, and that he has totally turned his life around. I will update this page as Jared’s life develops, and let’s hope for the best. Jared is hoping to run the 14th Annual DARE Mile, and I hope to see him there.