DARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE WITH YOUNG PEOPLE

Last Thursday, a new group of Grade 6 students at Vauxhall elementary
school successfully graduated from the Drug Abuse Resistance Education
program. (DARE).

The program, which has been active all over North America for several
years, is designed to teach kids about the harmful effects of drugs
and alcohol, and give them the skills to say no, or diffuse situations
where such elements are involved.

As time goes on, it seems drugs and alcohol play a bigger role in
people's lives, and you cannot seem to turn on the news these days
without hearing about someone dying of a drug overdose or drunk driving.

That being said, programs like DARE seem to be part of the answer to
this growing problem. By teaching people about the effects of future
choices, they may be less susceptible to peer pressure and drug use as
they get older.

While some might be skeptical, statistics from a DARE survey conducted
in 2007 by the RCMP states out of 5,337 students surveyed, 93 per cent
agreed they learned how to make informed decisions when it came to the
use of alcohol and drugs, and 95 per cent of students felt attending
the program helped them decide against drug use in the future.

Parents and teachers also expressed positive feelings about the
program, citing 96 per cent of teachers felt it had a positive effect
on their children, and 96 per cent of parents felt the DARE program
had a positive effect on their children's attitude towards drugs and
alcohol.

You cannot argue with numbers like that.

Last Thursday, VES students proudly shared their experiences with
DARE, and it was clear the program and its values had a great
influence on them.

And, like they always say, even if such a program influences only one
young person, all the effort will have been worth it. Let's hope,
however, the impacts of DARE will continue to go far beyond that.