PROGRAM TEACHES CHILDREN TO STAY AWAY FROM DRUGS, ALCOHOL, GANG

Twelve-year-old Jameel Thomas carefully places each of his feet on two long,
wooden planks while making tight fists around ropes that are connected to each
piece of slender wood.

Along with four other members of his team who have lined up behind him, the
objective is to work together to lift the planks they are standing on and move
five feet forward together.

"Man, this is hard," shouts Thomas, of Cape Girardeau. "Hold on, y'all. Hold
on!"

After a few false starts, the group of children get the gist of it. Slowly --
and awkwardly -- the children begin to lift the boards off the ground in unison
and use their swinging momentum to lurch themselves forward.

It doesn't help that a youth team leader is standing nearby with a whistle and
a stopwatch, urging them to work faster.

"Y'all dead, y'all dead," says the leader, laughing and shaking his head as the
children tumble off the boards and onto the ground.

The children are also laughing, clearly having a great time. But if the intent
of DEFY Camp works, they've also learned something: You have to work as a team
to move ahead.

DEFY Camp is a Southeast Missouri Weed and Seed program that sends at-risk
youngsters to a five-day camp where they learn how to resist drugs and alcohol
and a multitude of other things.

DEFY, or Drug Education for Youth, is for children who live in Weed and Seed
areas in Southeast Missouri and St. Louis. This year, about 70 children
attended, including seven from Cape Girardeau.

The goal of the program, which is done at other Weed and Seed sites across the
country, is to produce 9-to-12-year-olds with character, leadership and
confidence who will be equipped to live positive, healthy lives as drug-free
citizens. Classroom training, physical fitness and outdoor activities are all
part of the program.

The military-style camp -- run by Air National Guardsmen, police officers and
some Weed and Seed workers -- was held this summer from June 8 to 13 at
Peaceful Valley Camp near Perryville, Mo., which normally is a camp for Baptist
youth.

Weed and Seed executive director Lisa Lane calls DEFY "one of our most
meaningful programs."

The camp is a mixture of lectures and fun. But even the fun brought lessons.

Each day, the children attended a class to learn how to say no to drugs and who
to report drugs to if they ever were offered any. They also were taught alcohol
prevention, as well as lessons on health and discipline.

The children are lined up before they do anything. They also reply to bellowed
questions with "Yes, sir!" They are marched from class to class and are placed
on teams. When they get into trouble, they are ordered to do sit-ups, push-ups
or to run sprints.

"The program starts before the kids get off the bus," said camp co-director
Senior Master Sgt. Jimmy Carter of the Air National Guard in St. Louis. "We
teach them how to work together and what to do if they're offered drugs. We
know what kind of world they're living in. We hope we can make it better by
making the kids better."

They also got to play crab soccer, go swimming and have play time. On one hot
afternoon, a sheriff's deputy brought enough Dairy Queen Blizzards for
everyone.

During that break, 11-year-old Alex Parrow of Cape Girardeau said he loved
going to the camp.

"It teaches us about drugs," he said, "that they can harm your body."

What would he say if someone offered him drugs?

"I'd say no, I don't want any drugs," he said.

Lane said it was a wonderful example of law enforcement and the military
working together.

"They do this and it can change a child's life," she said.

The camp costs $12,000, which the Southeast chapter of Weed and Seed splits
with the St. Louis chapter. About $3,500 was in rental costs. The rest was
spent on salaries, food, materials and other camp expenses.

Ike Hammonds, a corporal with the Cape Girardeau Police Department, was one of
the camp's coordinators. He said the actual camp is only the first phase of the
program. The second phase includes a mentoring program that takes place during
the school year and reinforces the training and education received at camp.

"We'll get with them once a month, half a day Saturday or a whole day Sunday,"
Hammonds said. "We'll get together as a group. With my group, we'll probably go
out to Trail of Tears for hiking. We'll talk over what we learned in camp and
see how much they retained. Hopefully, they remember a lot and are still using
what they learned. That's the whole point."