STUDENTS DARE TO DEFEND THEMSELVES

BELLINGHAM -- Bellingham Middle School turned the spotlight on safety
yesterday, recognizing graduates of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education
(DARE) program.

The Sixth-graders also watched demonstrations on how to defend themselves
against possible attackers.

Once a week for 17 weeks, Officers Lenny Gosselin and Chris Nummela taught
220 sixth-graders from nine homerooms the consequences of drug use and ways
to stand up to peer pressure. Students and officers also spoke to inmates
at the Dedham House of Correction.

Yesterday at each of the three DARE ceremonies, three sixth-grade classes
graduated. The graduations were held at 9 a.m., 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. in the
middle school's auditorium.

Also yesterday, all grades witnessed self-defense demonstrations given by
Norman McLinden, of Northeastern Tae Kwon Do. McLinden gave three
demonstrations in the gym at 8:15 a.m, 9:15 a.m. and 10:15 a.m.

"My main objective here today is to create a state of awareness, to think
of different times and places where you might be unsafe," McLinden said
during the 10:15 a.m. lesson for sixth-graders.

As McLinden demonstrated techniques for escaping the grasp of an adult,
police officers and teachers encouraged students to remember the lessons
from the DARE program.

"Use that to be able to say 'no' down the road," Lt. Kevin Ranieri said.

As the DARE program ended, each student wrote an essay explaining what DARE
meant to him or her. One student in each class read their at graduation and
received gift certificates to local stores such as Dairy Queen and Regal
Cinema.

Helen Troy wrote that the trip to the Dedham jail stuck out in her mind.

After the visit, students learned that one inmate who talked to them had a
leg amputated due to excessive heroin use and another had died of a heroin
overdose shortly after his release, Troy said. The man who died had played
hockey in the Junior Olympics, she said.

"He just threw his life away. One little mistake threw it all away," Troy said.

Patrick Whalen said he learned that someone using drugs or alcohol affects
everyone around him, not just himself. The effect on children is
particularly harsh, he said.

"It's pretty bad when your parents don't care about your problems,
successes or even your high school graduation," Whalen said. "I don't
really feel bad for these (drug users) because they brought it upon
themselves."

While the DARE program is aimed specifically at sixth-graders, McLinden
gave his demonstration to all middle school students. Earlier in the week,
he was at Clara Macy Elementary School.

McLinden said children should "trust their gut" when adults approach them.
If something about that adult makes them feel uncomfortable, they should
not let the adult get closer than an arm's length.

"If anybody comes near you, you back off," McLinden said. "That really
works and that's going with your intuition."

McLinden and instructor Jane Daigle demonstrated several ways children
could escape the grasp of an adult.

When Daigle grabbed McLinden's arm with both hands, he shook his own hand,
then pulled his arms away. McLinden called another move the "John Travolta
technique" because it involved thrusting one's arm in the air like a disco
dancer to escape. A third move, which mimicked an umpire's "out" call,
would let a child get away from someone who grabbed him as he walked by.

"Keep moving and swing your arm," McLinden said as several students
practiced the sweeping arm motion of the "out" call move. "You're adding to
the momentum."

McLinden said the moves may seem unorthodox, but that is what gives
children an advantage over stronger adults, McLinden said.

"The techniques that work are the techniques that people don't expect," he said.