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The message Michael DeLeon brought to students at both local school districts last week was simple: if you want to avoid prison, don’t follow his life’s path.

Michael DeLeon enthralls Aberdeen High School students with cautionary tales.

Dodge County Public Health has partnered with a motivational program to steer students straight.

DeLeon talked to students in the K-M, Hayfield and Triton school districts as well as have the meeting for the entire community , stating the only way to stop the crisis of vaping and fentanyl and other drugs is to tell the truth about them to kids.

As the opioid, vaping, mental health crisis and more continue to affect young people, a national speaker made a stop at Catholic Central Schools to spread his message about prevention.

The Division of Family Resource and Youth Services is hosting “Victory Over Violence” to provide educators with tools to keep their students safe & healthy.

“You are being lied to,” Michael DeLeon told Grangeville and Clearwater Valley high school students Nov. 30.

The middle Tennessee nonprofit group Steered Straight visited the Hot Springs School District on Monday to warn students just how serious the repercussions of addiction can be.

Documentary filmmaker, published author and international motivational speaker, Michael DeLeon spoke to Kellogg High School students about his life mission to educate youth to stay on the right path by avoiding serious life problems — specifically drugs and alcohol.

Please view post for the link to the video “Navarone Garcia Reveals the Turbulent Life of Growing Up With Show Business Royalty.”

Priscilla Presley’s son, Navarone Garcia, opened up about his drug addiction and his road to recovery in helping others.

Priscilla Presley’s son Navarone Garcia and Michael DeLeon chat exclusively to ET’s Kevin Frazier about struggling with drug use

On Dec. 14, Michael DeLeon, founder of Steered Straight, met with students at Prairie High School to teach them about the dangers of fentanyl and vaping and to tell them about his life.

It’s a hidden danger in our community, and children are getting their hands on it. From pills to marijuana and even vape pens — they’re all being laced with fentanyl.

More than 110,000 people in the U.S. died of a drug overdose in 2022, according to the CDC, where 70 percent of those deaths involved synthetic opioids like fentanyl.

On Oct. 30, the Kamiah High School gymnasium bleachers filled up with middle and high school students happily ending their school day with an assembly.

On Monday, the Hansen School District held a presentation with staff and parents of students about the vaping and fentanyl epidemic happening in Idaho and across the country.

“I cannot make you believe what I say — the choice is up to you. And only you can stop the drug use. But I’m here because you are worth it,” he told the crowd of kids.

“If you listen to what I say, it might save your life one day.” That’s what Michael DeLeon, a recovered drug addict and former gang member, told the audience Tuesday at College View Middle School.

DeLeon, who spent 12 years in prison for a gang-related homicide and drugs, developed his nonprofit Steered Straight as a way to tell his story to students around the world to make an impact on their lives.

Michael DeLeon, the founder and CEO of the Steered Straight educational nonprofit organization, told Teton County students, administrators, teachers, school staff and parents he is on a mission to educate the American public, adults and kids alike, about the effects of drugs and vaping on young minds.

NPC founder Dorrie Carolan told The Newtown Bee that a late October program featuring guest presenter Michael DeLeon got students thinking, talking, and taking action.

Michael DeLeon finds himself counseling parents about what they should be doing. This year, he will visit more than 700 schools around the country, including Southport High School, where he will speak next week.

As the latest public health crisis sweeps the nation, the Key Biscayne community and beyond grapples with the rise of teenagers hooked on vaping nicotine, CBD and THC-infused liquids.

Michael DeLeon is a man on a mission — to educate the American public, adults and kids, about the effects of drugs and vaping on young minds.

DeLeon’s message encouraged students to “stay in their lane” and not make poor choices which will affect their quality of life.

The founder and CEO of Steered Straight, an educational nonprofit, asked the Wilmington Area High School students attending his “Stay in Your Lane” presentation to put down their vapes.

During the 90-minute presentation, DeLeon spoke about the ways in which using drugs impacted his life and the lives of others around him. He also discussed the work he has done since serving time in prison to prevent adolescents from making the same mistakes that he made.

“I think you can beat drugs and alcohol without God. But if you have God’s spiritual principles in your life you’re going to have a recovery beyond your wildest dreams. Because it’s not about getting clean. It’s not staying off the drugs. It’s about renewing your life and growing into the person you were destined to be, finding your purpose in your life.”

Ohio remains the epicenter of the opioid epidemic. In light of the drug issues in the area, the Family Recovery Center’s Education Department brought a nationally-renowned speaker to the city of Steubenville Tuesday.

Students at James Caldwell High School learned first-hand the dangers of drug abuse and gang violence from Michael DeLeon, 52-year-old motivational speaker from Rockaway, on Tuesday, April 18.

“If we don’t come together, every sector of society, we are going to continue this pandemic,” says DeLeon.

Michael DeLeon wants kids today to make better choices than him. “I don’t want my past to be their future,” DeLeon said.

Michael DeLeon, a national public speaker from New Jersey, spends most of his year visiting schools and community organizations around the country, speaking to kids and adults about the growing drug epidemic.

Michael DeLeon’s life changed dramatically at the age of 24, right after he tried cocaine for the first time. The former vice president of sales and marketing at a multi-million dollar packaging company, DeLeon had quite a life. But he also put in a lot of hours and...

Times-Union December 8, 2016 Two ex-convicts shared their stories with Tippecanoe Valley Community High School students Tuesday. Michael DeLeon and Crystal Vallee spoke to students about staying away from drugs as part of  a four–day tour of area schools. DeLeon, who...

Michael R. DeLeon has been called many things: drug addict and gang member on the one hand, motivational speaker and filmmaker on the other. In his quest to reach young people about serious life issues, particularly drugs, DeLeon has picked up a couple of other...

A recovered heroin addict shared his story with Wallenpaupack Area High School students a few weeks ago. Michael DeLeon travels the country, telling how caffeine pills led to cocaine and eventually heroin; but his connection to a gang led to his mother’s murder and a gun being held to his young daughter’s head.

Fighting the battle against addiction takes a lot of arsenal. Just saying no doesn’t work. The scared straight approach is ineffective. Big-time celebrities speaking to students at assemblies or the relative of someone who has died from an overdose can be well...

Michael DeLeon is on a mission: a mission to educate our country’s youth to stay in the right direction when it comes to serious life issues, especially drugs. DeLeon is the founder and powerhouse behind Steered Straight Inc., a nonprofit organization formed in 2000...

Amish communities from three Indiana counties met Monday night to talk about a common problem: heroin. Amish elder Ben Stoltzfus says the problem of opioid addiction hasn't spared his otherwise isolated community. "It's just slowly creeping in here," he said. Heroin...

“Honestly that little sticker, it’s going to catch someone’s eye and that right there that can spark up a conversation,” said Stephen Ogle, with Steered Straight.

In a region many travel to escape the hustle and bustle of city life, an issue is underway that has caused great heartache and concern, while leaving some to wonder what can be done to address the area’s struggle with addiction. To learn more, at Wallenpaupack Area...

The Key Biscayne fire department is used to dispatching help from within its walls, but Chief Eric Lang never knew his station would become the proverbial living room in which families are sitting down to have the all-important discussion about drugs and alcohol. “A...

VIDEO INTERVIEW: Jill Horner speaks with Michael DeLeon, President and Founder from Steered Straight, about Drug and Alcohol Prevention.

The Middlesex-based Center for Network Therapy’s unique ambulatory detox program is successfully treating those struggling with substance abuse.

Topics will include treatment options, greater Princeton area drug trends and the lifesaving administration of Narcan, an opiate antidote which reverses the effects of an opiate overdose.

Michael DeLeon, founder of Steered Straight, will be the keynote speaker.

The video is titled, “Chasing the Dragon” and it is educating young people on the hazards of drug addiction before it’s too late.

A town hall meeting highlighted the crisis and challenges for those struggling to recover from substance abuse addiction on Thursday night in Dover.

Kevin Meara will speak at a town hall meeting in New Hampshire Thursday night about that state’s heroin problems.

Between 2004 and 2014, at least 53 people died of heroin or opiate overdoses in Williamstown, an unincorporated community located almost entirely in Monroe Township, Gloucester County.

Sam Motsay, by all accounts, was your typical boy next door: honor roll student, basketball player, band member, devoted big brother. But on May 11, 2014, Mother's Day, he made a decision -- a decision that that took his life and shattered the future for his parents...

“This truly is an epidemic and we in law enforcement cannot fix this by ourselves”

For an hour and forty minutes Thursday, North Montgomery High School students and faculty were so quiet one could hear a pin drop. On the auditorium stage were two men who gave testimonies so powerful it brought many audience members to tears.

Two of the biggest challenges for drug addicts and the families trying to help them are overcoming the stigma of addiction and recognizing that anyone can fall prey to the disease.

O’Brien, along with Steered Straight President Michael DeLeon, spoke to a filled auditorium about their struggles with addiction in hopes that future generations wouldn’t make the mistakes they had.

At a special community day last Thursday; documentary filmmaker and former addict Michael DeLeon presented his “Steered Straight” program.

The local youth rehabilitator is hard at work putting the finishing touches on his latest film, “An American Epidemic,” due out this spring.

In a forum dubbed “Stop The Violence” hosted at Cumberland County College, residents and officials took turns condemning the violence they see as ripping their communities apart.

To accomplish their mission, borough police and the Cumberland County-based outreach group will hold a free community meeting early next week to raise awareness about the rise in opiate addiction and drug use among youth.

DeLeon, who spent a decade in prison for aggravated manslaughter charges, spoke on his journey toward sobriety and what he’s seen as an overwhelming need to revamp the way the corrections system works to a room full of police chiefs, parole officials, correctional officers and others in law enforcement at Rowan College of Gloucester County on Friday.

The program’s mission is “to steer youth straight toward making sound, rational decisions by creating a learning experience that provides them with a message of reality and helps them make positive, informed choices.”

SMART Moves incorporates current research about problems confronting young people and aims to provide viable solutions to help them handle challenging circumstances while avoiding risky and unhealthy behaviors.

Government officials and local police departments have been scrambling to come to grips with the wave of violence sweeping through the county.

This event was held to raise awareness of the many challenges facing children of incarcerated parents and to discuss programs and strategies that will address their needs.

“The cost of prescription drugs is more than the cost of heroin,” said Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae. “When they don’t have an avenue to get the prescription drugs anymore, it’s so much easier to turn into a heroin addict.”

DeLeon, along with Steered Straight Vice President John Fuqua, spent the day speaking to each grade at the middle school, with the conversation getting more mature the higher the grade level.

About 40 students at the Cunningham Alternative School got a message from two former professional football players that hard work and making the right choices can make dreams come true.

“My mission is really to bring an educational message to students about real life, that consequences can last forever.”

Nearly 135 sixth- through eighth-graders listened intently and interacted with the pro athletes as they explained the paths they had traveled — including hardship and challenges.

Thursday’s door-to-door outreach kicked off a proactive initiative funded through the New Jersey Department of Criminal Justice and designed to go beyond traditional law enforcement methods to foster safer neighborhoods offering a higher quality of life.

Deleon, Fuqua and Tapeh are part of the “Steered Straight” organization that promotes the initiative to treat others as you would like to be treated.

DeLeon’s message is simple and unadulterated: Becoming involved with a gang will lead to death, prison, misery for friends and family, or a mix of all three.