A GOOD DARE

Students learn about drugs and alcohol, and pledge to stay away from
them

By Trish Hogue

Grade 7 students from Balmoral school recently graduated from a
10-week DARE course, where they learned about many aspects of drug
abuse.

DARE (drug.abuse.resistance.education) is a program run in partnership
with schools and police agencies across North America that teaches
kids about the effects of drugs and ways to be drug-free.

Const. Sandy Deibert, Stonewall RCMP and DARE officer, said the
program is available to any school that is interested, and the program
mainly focuses on tobacco, marijuana, and alcohol use.

"Within the curriculum we discuss these three main drugs because we
decided they are the most important to be familiar with," said
Deibert. "Those are the most prevalent in younger ages."

To complete the program students had to attend 10, one-hour classes
that were given during regular class time. They also had to complete a
workbook, participate in class, and write an essay, or DARE report, on
why they promise to be drug-free.

Deibert said the program offers a different solution to the ways they
used to teach kids to resist drugs in the past.

"When I was in school I was told 'just say no,' " said Deibert. "But
we give them information they need to make their own decisions and try
to set up tools so they know what drugs will do to their bodies and
how it will affect their minds."

She said the program also looks at peer pressure and media influences
such as TV advertisements for cigarettes and alcohol and who they are
targeting.

DARE also offers suggestions for activities that can be done instead
of taking drugs such as sports teams, clubs, school and reading.

Any school interested in offering a DARE program in their school can
contact their local RCMP office.

There is a fee schools must pay to cover the cost of the program.
Every student also gets a t-shirt, pencil, eraser, and work book.

Kids have their say

The following are excerpts from the DARE reports written by several
Grade 7 Balmoral students on why they promise to stay drug-free.

Ainslee Willis: Walking through the hallway, your town, or even
Winnipeg, do you know what is safe? You may think so but that is not
always the truth. There are so many different things that can be
slipped into a pill or package labeled as something they aren't. For
example, ecstacy is now put in little pills with small pictures that
attract little children. How many of you knew that?

Dare has taught me to be drug free. I've learned what is bad for my
body. I know never to give into peer pressure or accept anything from
someone I don't trust. I think all of us feel pressure to do something
we know is wrong...but how drastic can your mistake be?....

Michael Melynchuk: Constable Sandy has taught us much on the effects
of drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. I have been convinced to not abuse
drugs, alcohol, and tobacco.
Drugs can affect everything in our life like athletics, social, and
personal. Alcohol can affect your life as well. It can kill you,
others, or put you in jail.
Tobacco can cause disease, cancer, and a shortened life.

These substances shouldn't be abused in any form or at any time. I
won't be abusing these substances because it will affect my chances at
getting my future career as a police officer.

Mac Loewen: Hi my name is Mac and I want to make a commitment not to
smoke or do drugs. I want to make this commitment because of what I
learned in DARE and what our officer taught us. We learned all about
marijuana, tobacco, alcohol, and inhalants. We learned about how all
of them affect our bodies and why it's just a bad idea to take them.
They taught us a lot of information so I won't write it down, but
I'll tell you it was nice to know all of these things. It's because
of these facts that I'll never even think about taking drugs or
smoking. Thank-you DARE officers.