STUDENTS KNOW OF ALCOHOL'S DANGER

RAPID CITY -- Fifth-graders at Black Hawk Elementary School startled state
Sen. Mac McCracken Tuesday with their knowledge of substance abuse.

"These students are well aware of the dangers of alcohol and drugs,"
McCracken, R-Rapid City, said.

He was at the school as part of Lifeway's "Reach Out Now Teach In" alcohol
awareness campaign.

"The choices you make in life as you move forward will affect you for the
rest of your life," McCracken told the children. "You are the future
leaders of this community, city, South Dakota and maybe even the nation."

In turn, the children told McCracken that alcohol damages your body and can
hurt you emotionally.

"When I was in school, we didn't talk about these things," McCracken told
the children.

"Reach Out Now Teach In" is a national education campaign through U.S.
Department of Education's Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service
Administration and Center for Substance Abuse Prevention during the week of
April 26.

The program targets fifth-graders for discussions about the dangers of alcohol.

McCracken accompanied Lifeways advisors Jason James from Dakota Middle
School and Holly Edwards from West Middle School.

Lifeways is a non-profit corporation, funded through a partnership with the
state, the Rapid City School District and the city of Rapid City.

Black Hawk's fifth-graders will attend either West or Dakota next fall,
according to Lifeways executive director Paula Wilkinson Smith.

Tuesday's visit was as much a get acquainted session as it was a reminder
of the pitfalls of drinking and using drugs. Next year, James and Edwards
will be familiar faces when the students arrive at the middle schools.

Children are especially vulnerable when they make the transition into
middle school, Wilkinson Smith said.

"They're leaving the safe environment of elementary school to go into the
less structured environment of middle school," she said.

As they grow, children are faced with more choices, Wilkinson Smith said.

Peer pressure increases and they face the growing pressure of society that

accepts smoking and drinking as common practices, she said.

Kids need to know how to refuse when they're offered drugs or alcohol,
James said.

Lifeways has eight certified drug and alcohol counselors working in the
Rapid City School District's five middle schools, two high schools and the
Academy

"We find that kids don't want to go to their parents with questions,"
Wilkinson Smith said.

The Lifeways counselors provide drug and alcohol training in their school's
classrooms. They are also available for one-to-one dialogs with students.

"There needs to be adults that are part of their world," Wilkinson Smith said.

Children will talk to adults they know and trust, she said.

Black Hawk fifth-graders were full of facts and information about the
dangers of smoking and using drugs and alcohol because of the Drug and
Alcohol Resistance Education (DARE) program. Deputies and liaison officers
from the Pennington County Sheriff's Office teach the classes.