STUDENTS DARE TO LEARN NEGATIVE REALITIES OF DRUG USE

Banff Crag & Canyon -- The sixth graders at Banff Elementary know
about doing drugs and why they shouldn't be doing them.

Last week the Grade 6 students graduated from their 10-week Drug
Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) course offered by the RCMP.

Students were taught facts about cigarette smoking and drug use,
their negative effects, and how to stand up to peer pressure.

Constables Jason Krivoshein and Lisa McKay were teaching the courses
and handed out certificates and gifts to the students.

At the graduation ceremony, attended by the students along with their
peers in Grade 5, and their parents, awards were given out to two
students who wrote essays of notable quality.

Tobie MacDonald and Dakota Hines were recognized and invited to read
their essays out loud.

"I learned a lot of stuff that shocked me," Hines said following the
graduation ceremony.

"Like what was in cigarettes totally freaked me out."

As part of the course, the students acted out scenarios of possible
confrontations they could have with someone offering them drugs.

"If I get asked if I want drugs I know how to say no," MacDonald said.

"I know how to deal with peer pressure," Hines said, thanks to the course.

"If you just walk away it wouldn't work. I learned that you have to
ignore them turn around and ignore them."