DEPUTY WILL GIVE SCHOOLS LESSON IN SUBSTANCE ABUSE

Students at Oak Grove Lower Elementary and Middle schools will receive a
lesson in drug and alcohol abuse that will be anything but ordinary.

"It's loud and fun and kids are very receptive to it," said Darby
Shelton of his music-oriented presentation.

Shelton, a veteran deputy with the Pontotoc County Sheriff's
Department, has developed a presentation that showcases his musical
talent on drums.

"Basically, what I do is present with music, playing my drums, and for
a while they forget that I'm a cop," he said.

Shelton said his music helps break the stereotypical barrier between
law enforcement officers and kids.

"They don't expect a policeman to do anything else but put people in
jail and write tickets," he said. "Once I break that barrier they see
me as a person."

Shelton said his presentation educates fourth and fifth graders on
tobacco and alcohol prevention and middle school and high school
students on specific drug abuse.

"I talk to them about things that are marketed to them that are quite
deadly," he said. "Kids don't know that Ecstasy looks like candy, like
PEZ, and there's a reason for that."

According to Shelton, parents have a difficult time talking to their
children about drugs because they don't know what their children are
being offered.

"A lot of parents don't know about the drugs that are out today
because they weren't around 10 years ago," he said.

Through his life experiences, Shelton shares with the students the
harsh truth about the destructive nature of drugs and alcohol.

"It's a horrible way to go out," he said. "You know how you feel when
you have the flu and fever of 102. Imagine your body heating up to 108
when your organs are cooking before you die. No one tells kids about
that."

Danny Edwards, school resource officer at Oak Grove Lower Elementary,
met Shelton at a Mississippi Association of School Resource Officers
conference last year.

"I saw his presentation and thought it was an excellent idea and
thought it would work," Edwards said.

Edwards said the support of Oak Grove's elementary and middle school
principals, Debbie Dabbs and Ben Burnett, has helped bring
presentation's like Shelton's to the schools.

Shelton feels the Oak Grove students will not only learn, but also
enjoy his presentation.

"If kids see that you're honest and you present yourself without a
front, they'll listen," he said.

Shelton's drug and alcohol prevention program will be at 8:30 a.m.
Monday for grades four and five and at 8:45-11 a.m. Tuesday for grades
six through eight.

The event is open to the public.