MILLS HAVEN PARENTS TAUGHT DARE PROGRAM

With students, schools, and the community involved in
the prevention of drug use and violence, it seems only natural to
involve parents, says Const. Ken Fuhrmann.

The local RCMP officer has just completed the pilot of the Drug
Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program aimed at parents and is
planning for the next round of classes.

"This is another important part in the DARE picture," said Fuhrmann,
who was been teaching the program for students since 1996.

The pilot project was a five-week class for parents of students at
Mills Haven School. Twenty-two parents were enrolled in the program
to learn about several different topics.

Parents were taught warning signs to tell if their children have
taken drugs, they were given an introduction into the culture
children grow up in today and they were told what to do and where
they can go to get help.

"The is nobody more important in a child's life than parents," said Fuhrmann.

Parents were also taught about the power of peer pressure not only
at their children's level but in the adult world as well. They are
taught to understand violence and how to prevent it from occurring in youths.

Fuhrmann said the project went over very well.

"I'm very pleased," he said "For a pilot project it turned out
really good. The parents had great participation. They asked many
questions and gave great feedback on what was good and what needed
improvement for next time."

He said there isn't a date set for the next round of classes for
parents, but there is likely to be sessions held in the spring.

Fuhrmann said parents were always asking him how they can get more
information on drugs. But since there was nobody to train for the
parent program in Canada, he had to travel to San Antonio, Texas, to
be trained.

He only needed three-day training session since he was already a
trained DARE officer.

Fuhrmann is one of three officers in the county who teaches the DARE
program to students. He and two bylaw officers teach 100 elementary
and junior high classes a 10-lesson program each school year.