HIGH SCHOOL ISN'T A HARD KNOCK LIFE

Kids at Parkdale Elementary School were able to quell their fears
about high school when they spoke to five students from Wetaskiwin
Composite High School about what it's really like.

To someone in Grade 5 or 6, high school is a foreboding and
intimidating place.

There are temptations like smoking and drinking and if you look at
someone the wrong way you might get beat up.

But five survivors of the teen-ridden hallways say it's nothing like
that at all.

The students volunteered their time to talk about their high school
savvy with students at Parkdale Elementary School Dec. 14 as part of
the school's DARE program.

Taught by RCMP Const. Adrian Wilson, the Drug Abuse Resistance
Education program is designed to teach kids how to deal with negative
peer pressure and empower them with the ability to realize they have a
choice and can say no to drugs or alcohol.

"Peer pressure is often depicted as being bad, but not always. You
could be pressuring your friends to do better in school," said
Elizabeth Hubert, a high school student who wants to be a youth pastor.

The five students stressed education and the power it can give a
person in life. Why throw that away for a quick high, they asked the
DARE kids.

"I really value my education and want to get a good job when I get out
of high school, said Elly McHan, who is involved with the band program.

They also broached the subject of drugs. They admit there are drugs in
the high school, but relatively few students are suspected of using
drugs.

Grade 12 student Angelina Bakshi said most of the friends she has in
high school have similar interests and goals. Drugs are not on their
agenda.

She warned the young DARE students if they are ever offered drugs,
it's not like television where a complete stranger approaches you on
the street.

It could be someone close to you that you would never suspected of
using drugs.

"It's probably going to be one of your closest friends. It's going to
be someone who trusts you," she said as she recounted her own tale
about being approached to use drugs.

"It was more of a shock."

But she said it was easy to say no; she has more important things
going on in her life.

She said high school is an opportunity to be independent and make
one's own choices. No one is going to hold your hand, but there are
people there who can help you if you let them.

And although it may seem hard for such young people to imagine, she
said parents are pretty savvy too.

DARE was started on the streets of Los Angeles in 1983 where police
officers realized that arresting the bad guys was a reactive, not
proactive, approach to policing.

They sat down and designed a curriculum that could be taught in
schools to kids who may be enticed to try drugs and crime.

The program has spread to Canada and the RCMP has adopted it
completely.

There are four officers, including Wilson, teaching the program in the
area.

Wilson said bringing in high school students has an incredible impact
on the kids because of the older students' immediate experiences
dealing with these issues.

"These are a super group of kids from the high school who are not
influenced by drugs," Wilson said.

What he's gained from the program is knowing that kids are learning
how to overcome the hazards their peers might try to force them into.