STUDENTS DARE MAKING DIFFERENCE DOWN THE ROAD

Grade 11 students are much older and wiser than they were in Grade 6. But
members of the Grade 11 class at the St. Paul Regional High School look to
remember some of the lessons they learned during their last year of
elementary school.

This particular Grade 11 class has the distinction of being the first class
to graduate from the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) course.

"We got to miss class," says Jacqueline Caouette.

"And we got shirts out of the deal," says Allison Heffner.

Getting a shirt and a break from the grind of Grade 6 isn't all the
students gained from the program. The DARE program has a uniformed RCMP
officer teach 17 classes about everything from the physiological effects of
drugs to issues such as self-esteem and peer pressure. But the program
wasn't simply academic.

"We got to do skits," remembers Jason Dembicki. "They were funny. We got to
do whatever it took for the class to make sense." "We even had our
fingerprints taken," says Kara Logozar.

The fun and games had a purpose. Heffner says the DARE program presented
the consequences of different life paths and how some send lives down the
drain. Issues such as drug and alcohol abuse seem like topics Grade 6
students shouldn't need to know about, but the Grade 11's say the timing
was good. "It's good because that's when young teens are learning about a
lot of things," says Heffner.

"It's better than in high school," agrees Caouette. "By that time they
won't listen because they've already tried a lot of things." The prevalence
of drugs in St. Paul and area is another good reason for programs like
DARE, according to the students. They say most students their age have
experimented with drugs. DARE's weakness is that it didn't go into enough
detail about many drugs and the consequences of using them. The program
focused on marijuana and alcohol, but didn't give much information about
others such as ecstasy.

Information aside, the students say simply having a positive example is
important. "It's good to see someone with a good job saying you don't have
to use [drugs or alcohol] to be a good person," says Logozar.