TEACHING CHILDREN TO MAKE RIGHT DECISIONS

With so many negative temptations surrounding students, local law
enforcement wants to supply them with preventative tactics within a
familiar classroom setting.

The Culpeper County Sheriff's Office will start teaching the Drug
Abuse Resistance Education curriculum at Floyd T. Binns Middle School
and Culpeper Middle School today for sixth-grade health and physical
education classes.

DARE teaches children how to recognize and resist the daily pressures
of using alcohol, tobacco, marijuana and other drugs.

"This is a very positive program that is expected to have 26 million
students in the United States participating and 36 million students
worldwide," said Sheriff H. Lee Hart.

Specially, trained deputies Gail Clatterbuck and Cody Perry will urge
students to maintain positive self-esteem, teach them how to make
decisions on their own and help them identify positive alternatives to drugs.

According to DARE officials, the curriculum emphasizes the negative
consequences of drug use and reinforces the skills to resist peer
pressure and intimidation through role-playing exercises.

A new part of the course allows students to create their own public
service announcements, which will be aired on local television
stations. Hart said a portion of the gang grant fund will be utilized
in this program to teach gang awareness.

"This program will address more than saying no to drugs," he said.
Additional events that coincide with the DARE program include the
teachers versus law enforcement basketball game and countywide
graduation ceremonies in the spring. For more information contact
Cpl. Shannon Carter at 727-3444 ext. 566.