DRUG AWARENESS NIGHT DITCHES SCARE TACTICS, EXPLORES CONSEQUENCES INSTEAD

The jump from elementary to high school can be overwhelming at the best of
times, so a group of concerned parents took matters into their own hands
recently and organized an evening to educate Dorval children about drug
awareness.

"Most 12-year-olds are given more freedom, they're all leaving their own
communities to attend high school and they're more prone to feeling alone
and lost," said Loretta Gillis, one of the parents who helped organize the
event. "And there's been no drug education to date. So it's reassuring to
know they have information."

Sgt. Sylvie Beauregard of Station 5 was recruited to talk to about 30 kids
at the Surrey Aquatic and Community Centre in Dorval. She is reluctant to
use scare tactics or to preach the "Just Say No" philosophy.

"Kids need to know about the consequences," she said. "We talk about
responsibility."

For example, she likes to show how many of the freedoms they currently
enjoy would be lost if they started using drugs. The allowance that is now
used on food and entertainment would be gone because it would all have to
go to pay for drugs. Privileges like video games might be lost when grades
start to take a dive and parents realize there's a problem.

Gillis said Beauregard made the talk relevant to the children's lives. "I
really liked the way she showed that five things they really enjoy would
become less important or unavailable to them if they were using drugs," she
said. "The kids didn't find it frightening or pointless. She was adept at
dealing with the age group."

Beauregard said that the knowledge children have about drugs can be
staggering - one child even asked about crystal meth, a stimulant more
powerful than crack cocaine, because it had been talked about on the Dr.
Phil TV show. But there are also a lot of myths that need to be dispelled,
the primary one being that it is legal to smoke marijuana.

"I have to explain you're going to be arrested if you're caught using it,"
Beauregard said.

She explained that drugs are money, a business, and no one cares if it's
good for you or not.

"The guy selling you drugs isn't your friend, he's only in it for the
money," she said.

Gillis was pleased that Beauregard created a safe environment for kids to
ask questions and she was happy with the way the information was presented.
Beauregard was also satisfied with how the session went. "I like to present
options to deal with problems in a different way."