GRADE 9'S DRUG BLITZ

Young teenagers arriving next month for their first taste of high
school at Campbellford will receive a different kind of initiation --
a new drug awareness course.

The new workshop, entitled "Positive Decisions, Positive Choices",
targets 14 year-olds newly-arrived at Campbellford District High School.

In previous years, drug education was not introduced until later
grades but experts believe they must now move much sooner to protect
students in their first year at high school from a pervasive drug
culture.

"Kids going into Grade 9 are very vulnerable and susceptible to peer
pressure and they probably haven't had any exposure to drugs in
elementary school," said Janice Allen, chair of the Trent Hills
community policing committee.

"I was pretty shocked when our DARE officer told me that any student
can buy cocaine on just about any street corner," she said. A retired
teacher, Ms. Allen has been a driving force behind the introduction
of the new Grade 9 program -- funded in the coming school year to
the tune of $3,500 by the Kawartha Pines Ridge District School Board.

The course is the result of a combined effort of the community
policing committee, the KPR Health Unit, the KPR school board, the
Fourcast drug counseling agency, the Rebound youth counseling agency
and the OPP's D.A.R.E. program.

"The more information children have on an issue, the more likely they
are to make a good decision," said Nicola Crow, executive director of
Rebound.

Ms. Crow, acting as an expert resource for the new Grade 9 workshop,
says the new course is a natural follow-up to the D.A.R.E. program
already being offered in elementary schools.

"We can provide some real support for not only the kids but their
parents as well," she explained.

Parents and kids will receive the first drugs briefing on Aug. 28 at
the CDHS Grade 9 orientation day.