DARE PROGRAM UNDERWAY AT SCHOOLS

The morning buzzer sounds, the students troop in and sit expectantly,
looking up at the police officer at the front of the room.

For the next 45 minutes, she is the teacher. Today, she's talking about
self-esteem, and next week they move on to standing up for one's rights and
the rights of others. The Grade 6 students respond with enthusiasm, hands
waving in the air when questions are asked.

This is no ordinary class, but part of a 17-week Drug Abuse Resistance
Education program, the first in Williams Lake. Students at Kwaleen
Traditional School are taking the class this year, and instructor Const.
Michele Johanson of the Williams Lake detachment of the RCMP is planning to
add a second school to the program next year.

"It's basically teaching the kids they have rights and responsibilities,
but they also have choices, and they need to stand up for those choices,"
Johanson says after class.

The DARE program started in 1983 in the United States, and has since been
taught in 56 countries to 36 million children. Johanson trained for 80
hours in December to teach the course materials. She says while standing in
front of a class of 12-year-olds isn't the usual role for an officer, it
has been rewarding.

"The first class I was a bit nervous, but now I look forward to it," she says.

The program seeks to teach young people good decision-making and
self-esteem skills before the high school years hit, to help them deal with
all the peer pressure that goes along with those years. It uses simple
exercises, homework assignments and class discussion to get the anti-drug
message across.

Teacher Rick Miller is impressed with DARE and the effect it is having on
his students.

"The content of the program is great," he says. "The materials are good,
and the message is right. They'll have an opportunity to practice these
lessons later."

Catching young people before they reach the age where "they know
everything" is crucial, Miller says.

"They're old enough to understand this, yet they're young enough that this
makes an impression on them."

Later in the program, the students will be visited by teenage mentors from
the high school, who will try to get the message across that being cool
doesn't mean they have to smoke, drink, or smoke pot.

Johanson says drugs in the schools are a reality in many places, and
children as young as these students are likely to encounter them, whether
through older children or adults. She hopes the DARE program will grow in
Williams Lake to include other schools, beginning next year.