DARE BUILDS CONFIDENCE

Younger and younger students these days are being lured into trying
drugs and alcohol.

In an attempt to help young students develop the skills and
confidence to resist pressures which may influence them to experiment
with alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, inhalants and other drugs, School
District 27 is collaborating with the RCMP to deliver the DARE
program to Grade 5/6 students in School District 27, says Const.
David Skretting.

Since January of 2005 more than 140 students from five schools in the
district will have graduated from the DARE program in Williams Lake.

Schools that received the program this year include Marie Sharpe,
Glendale, Mountview, Chilcotin Road and Poplar Glade elementary schools.

Skretting says the DARE, or Drug Abuse Resistance Education Program,
started in Los Angeles in 1986 when the son of the chief of police
was caught committing break ins to support a drug habit. The chief
realized that he could not stop his son's drug habit and that his son
required specialized expensive treatment. He then thought that
teaching students about drugs, before they're faced with pressure to
use them, he may be able to prevent students from using them in the
first place.

The program has evolved and the current program is taught in
classrooms with local school district support.

The DARE instructors are required to be a peace officer; police,
customs, conservation officer and receive specialized training to
teach the course.

The unique aspect of the DARE program is that instructors are not
selected by the police department.

The officers must want to be a DARE leader and must complete an
application process and interview before being selected. The
candidate attends a two-week training course.

The course touches on effective presentation, understanding of the
program, and understanding how children learn. An elementary school
teacher is also part of the training team and provides some insight
as to how the students think and work. At the end of the training,
applicants are sent to an elementary school where they instruct one
lesson to a class. Only those showing a commitment to the program
will become certified DARE instructors. The program is funded by
nonprofit groups and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

This year the DARE program was supported by the Williams Lake
Community Policing Committee and by the Williams Lake Lions Club, and
the Williams Lake Detachment which provided funding for training.