LIBERALS PUSHING DRUG AND ALCOHOL PROGRAM

If Christy Clark has her way, high school students will need to understand
the perils of substance abuse to graduate.

"I wish that every kid could see what life is like for the people who are
drug addicted who live on the Downtown Eastside," the Education Minister
told Times reporters.

"I see those kids...And I wish every child would have an opportunity to see
what that life is like before they make a decision about getting involved
with drugs and alcohol."

New curriculum on alcohol and drug education will be a key part of career
and personal planning 10, Clark added, which Chilliwack students currently
take in Grade 11, and will become a graduation requirement by fall 2004.

"So every child, everywhere in British Columbia who graduates from our high
schools will have to have a core understanding of the impact of substance
abuse," she added.

The move earned praise from trustee Barry Neufeld, who supervises youth on
probation and has often said kids need to build on the introduction they
get to drug and alcohol awareness through Chilliwack's thriving DARE
program in Grade 4.

"By the time they get to Grade 11 and 12, they tend to forget what they've
learned," Neufeld said, and he recommends even more intensive drug and
alcohol education.

"It should be repeated regularly from Grade 4 right on to Grade 10."

Chilliwack's school board chair said he understood the importance of this
latest change to B.C.'s graduation requirements, but cautioned any new
requirement could take focus away from academics.

"If you add something new, you have to think about what you can't do," he
explained, and right now, District 33 is working at raising scores on
provincial and foundation skills assessment exams.

Students spend only a little more than five hours in classrooms, he said,
but new graduation requirements introduced this past spring mean they have
more work than ever to complete.

The graduation portfolio, for example, is another new requirement. It
requires students to demonstrate physical activity, community involvement
and computer skills, which the government says are essential to a
well-rounded education.

At the same time, students are required to write more exams: five in four
curriculum areas, including language arts, science, math and social studies.

Sardis students have already been working on graduation portfolios, Froese
added, so the district already has some ideas on how to make it work. Plus,
the changes won't be in effect for another year, and he believes educators
and students will have time to adjust.