KIDS D.A.R.E TO BE DRUG AND ALCOHOL FREE

It was graduation day for all 36 Grade 6s at Windermere Elementary
School on Wednesday, May 13 and they passed with flying colours. The
children have all been participating in the Drug Abuse Resistance
Education (D.A.R.E) program, taught by the RCMP.

Throughout the nine lesson course the students learnt valuable
information and useful tools to help them combat the peer pressure
they will undoubtedly face in their teenage years with regard to drug
and alcohol usage.

"It's an education program which will help the kids find other options
to deal with peer pressure," Constable Steffler said at the graduation
ceremony. "This is a phenomenal groups of kids and I wish them a lot
of success in the future."

This is Steffler's first year teaching the program. The course
includes 45 minute sessions where the children are shown normal
beliefs surrounding drug and alcohol abuse.

The children are also encouraged to partake in varying scenarios they
might encounter where they will be pressured into trying drugs or
alcohol. They are then shown different ways to rise above the pressure
through active thinking, and how to make more positive choices instead
of succumbing to the pressure.

The RCMP teaches the D.A.R.E program to all Grade 5 and Grade 6
students in elementary schools across the valley.

They have programs for kindergartners all the way to high schoolers,
hoping the constant and proactive reinforcement surrounding such a
dangerous topic will have a positive effect on the future teenagers.
"We need to educate the kids in a way that will help them make smart
decisions when needed," Steffler added.

Prior to completion of the nine lessons, the Windermere students were
asked to write a letter to their future selves, to be read when they
reach Grade 10.

The RCMP will hold on to the letters and mail them to the students in
four years' time.

The purpose behind the letters is to remind the now 11 and 12-year
olds what they learnt in the D.A.R.E program and what goals they hope
to accomplish by the time they reach 15 or 16. While most students
made sure to set a reminder to their future selves, to get part-time
jobs to afford the car they will soon be driving, all the students who
shared their letters were very serious about setting the goal of
remaining healthy.

They asked themselves not to try drugs, not to smoke and not to drink
excessively. They also asked themselves to remain healthy, to keep fit
and, touchingly, to be nice, polite teenagers.

"We've now been taught how to make our own, healthy choices," said one
letter reader and all the children agreed.

It seems this class is well on their way to becoming a drug and
alcohol-free future generation.