DARE TAKES PREVENTION TO HIGHER LEVEL

HARDING TWP -- Like a rite of spring, 34 local fifth graders "graduated" on
Friday, May 21, from a police-led program designed to help them resist the
temptation to use alcohol, drugs and cigarettes.

Called DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education), the program met weekly
throughout the year and included role-play exercises, guest speakers, and a
caring relationship between students and their DARE officer, Sgt. Paul
Fortunato.

Parents attended the ceremony, inspirational songs were sung, awards were
handed out, and every student was proudly wearing a DARE T-shirt.

No one observing a DARE graduation could doubt that the fifth graders were
genuinely determined never to abuse illegal substances, said Harding's
Municipal Alliance Chair, Maria Sherow,

"The messages DARE puts out are so strong," she said. "I could really see
it in their eyes. They believed it; they were never going to put drugs in
their bodies. But I couldn't help wondering how many would still feel that
way four years from now."

Assessing Township

Sherow chairs a group of residents who comprise the municipal alliance, and
they have recently completed a community needs assessment, identifying risk
factors related to substance abuse in Harding. One of their conclusions was
that there is a void in terms of drug abuse prevention programs for
students in the vulnerable age group following DARE graduation.

"It's a critical time period when kids most need to be told why they
shouldn't do drugs," Sherow said.

Students in sixth, seventh and eighth grade need continued age-appropriate
information and support as they approach the teen years and begin to face
new social situations and peer pressures and also find themselves going
through physical and emotional changes, she said.

One solution the group has come up with is to extend DARE by offering a
"graduate program" for subsequent grades. Fortunato is working out a
curriculum for older students that will meet less frequently than the core
DARE program, but that will reinforce and build on what students learned in
DARE by helping with critical thinking and decision making skills.

For example, Sherow said, the program could teach young people how to throw
a successful party without having it get out of control. Or it could help
them figure out what to do if they hear someone is planning to bring
alcohol or drugs to their party.

Another transition period when young people are at greater risk for getting
involved with illegal substances is upon entering high school, Sherow said.

"Whether they're going on to Madison High or to a private school, it can be
very hard going from eighth to ninth grade," she said. "They are so
sheltered in Harding, and then they're suddenly in the minority in high
school and don't know a lot of kids.

"Just the anxiety alone can lead kids to experiment. And when they go to
parties, they can get exposed to a much more serious class of drugs,"
Sherow said.

The alliance identified teen house parties as a particular concern in
Harding; there has been a disturbing trend over the past year of teens
throwing parties at homes while the owners are away, Sherow said.

And until recently, kids deliberately gravitated to parties in Harding
because there was no municipal law against serving alcohol to underage
persons on private property. So even if police caught wind of teens getting
drunk at a house party, they couldn't do anything about it.

But that gap in the law was closed last October when the town passed an
ordinance prohibiting the possession or consumption of alcoholic beverages
by underage persons on private property. Now, in addition to the usual
fines for illegal use of alcohol, underage drinkers could also have their
driving privileges suspended for up to six months if they're caught
drinking at a private home or anywhere else.

But Sherow said more education is needed to help parents recognize signs
that illegal activity may be going on in their homes. For example, she
said, one parent told her how surprised she was following what she thought
was an alcohol-free teen party in her home. The next day she found a water
bottle containing an alcoholic beverage out by a shed on her property.

"Even the most educated parent can be duped," Sherow said. "But if they're
aware of what to look for, they will be a little more suspicious."

Sometimes when parents sense their kids pushing them away, they try to give
children more space, Sherow said. But kids really still want their parents
to be there.

"If kids came with instructions, parents would recognize this behavior and
know what's going on," she said. "It's so important that parents speak to
their kids about drugs from an early age. They have a lot more credibility
with their kids than they realize."

Sherow said parents also need to be concerned about liability issues if
teens use drugs or alcohol on their property. That's another issue the
municipal alliance plans to address by bringing in legal experts to offer
"host liability seminars" for parents next year.

"A lot of people in town think there's no problem here," she said. "I think
they would be amazed at some of the statistics."

Although data are sketchy about teen arrests because of privacy laws,
Sherow said she was surprised to see that there were three admissions into
heroin treatment programs in a single year from Harding.

Like police in surrounding towns, Harding Police Chief Kevin Gaffney said
police have observed a spike in drug arrests in town since the beginning of
the year.

Sherow acknowledged that some arrests might be due to traffic passing
through the township on Route 287.

"But I don't want to sugar coat it," she said. "They're not all from out of
town."