CHILDREN TAUGHT TO SAY 'NO' TO DRUGS

ONEONTA -- Hartwick College students lectured about saying "no" to drugs
and alcohol Wednesday, while fifth- and sixth-graders listened carefully.

Greg Krikorian, vice president of student life at Hartwick, and Steven
Havens, first-year Drug Abuse Resistance Education officer with the Oneonta
Police Department, organized the program held in Hartwick's Binder Gymnasium.

About 100 people including speakers, college representatives, school
teachers and students from Center Street, Edmeston, Laurens and Unadilla
schools attended the presentation.

"It's important to talk to kids about drug issues while they are young,"
Krikorian said. "College students are a great mechanism for this program
because younger children look up to them as role models."

College students explained saying "no" to drugs and alcohol with stories
from their college experiences to childhood memories about stealing ice
cream to impress friends.

"I was more nervous than I thought I would be speaking to the children,"
said Renata Williams, a Hartwick senior. "But I could tell they were paying
attention because of the questions they were asking."

Williams, 21, is president of Hartwick's Student Senate and a religious
studies major. She has been president for two years.

Williams said the program went well and the children are lucky to have such
a concerned DARE officer.

The DARE website says 70 percent to 90 percent of all crime is drug-related
and it is vital to warn children.

"The DARE program wants to teach children how to make good decisions and
how to stay away from alcohol, tobacco and other harmful drugs," Havens said.

The DARE program is a 15-week course introduced to children in the fifth-or
sixth-grade. A trained officer goes into the classroom and teaches children
once a week.

DARE officers teach students about peer pressure and have gym classes with
them. To pass, each student must write an essay about what he or she has
learned.

"You can tell which kids need this program based on their siblings,
classroom habits and playground behavior," said Kelli Niles, a Unadilla
Elementary School fifth-grade teacher.

The DARE presentation corresponds with Hartwick's Drug and Alcohol
Awareness Week.

"It's good to learn about drugs and how your friends will peer-pressure
you," said Rashele Schaffer, a fifth-grader at Unadilla Elementary School.

For more information about the DARE program, call Havens at 433-3478.