DARE CLASSES WELL ACCEPTED WITH SCHOOLS

Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) is thriving in Fort Saskatchewan
despite negative reactions to its validity last spring.

RCMP Community Policing officer, Const. Helen Meinzinger, who coordinates
school instruction, reports the program was off to a healthy start at the
beginning of the school year with all Fort Saskatchewan schools participating.

Fort Saskatchewan Christian School chose to run the program for the very
first time this year, she says.

DARE was first brought to Fort Saskatchewan in 1996 and offered to Grade 6
students in just a few schools. Since then it has grown to include all
Grade 6 classes as well as students in grades 7 and 10. Schools in Lamont,
Bruderheim and Chipman also hold the grade six sessions.

"I've never personally heard negative comments," says Meinzinger. "In fact
the opposite."

While measuring the effects of DARE is difficult, school administrators
believe it builds a base for youth to make good decisions. "It plants the
seed with students to consider these things (drug use, etc.) as serious
issues," says Lorne Monaghan, John Paul II high school principal.

"I've had students in later years say to me they're glad they discussed
those issues in Grade 10."

Monaghan says the feedback he's received from students, parents, and
teachers over the past three years that DARE has been offered to his Grade
10 students, has been nothing but positive.

"Students receive valuable information," he says. "Information they thought
they knew but didn't know specifics."

At Fort Elementary, the first school in the community to offer DARE, vice
principal Bill Suter says its a wonderful program.

"Anytime you give people information they can use to make better decisions,
it's worthwhile."

Suter says DARE goes beyond the drug awareness aspect.

"It's pro-active, interactive, helps students deal with pressure and
teaches them life skills," he adds.

Even though other programs within the school curriculum teach these skills,
he doesn't see anything negative with having another program reinforce
those concepts.

Meinzinger, a staunch supporter of the program, says information is
surfacing that reveals DARE's effectiveness.

She refers to an article this past summer about the findings of a study
recently published by the prestigious Washington-based Journal of the
National Medical Association. The study showed that the smoking prevention
components of the DARE program are highly effective among elementary
school-aged children.

Researchers found a direct correlation between knowledge regarding the
risks of smoking and increased rates of smoking avoidance. DARE students
had a significantly higher knowledge score regarding the risk of smoking
than the comparison group.

Researchers at the Meharry School of Medicine conducted the evaluation of
grades five and six students in Nashville, Tennessee. DARE originated in
Los Angeles in 1983, specially training local law enforcement instructors
to deliver the program. This year alone, more than 36 million school
children around the world will receive DARE.

In Fort Saskatchewan and area, Meinzinger and Const. Al Rypka teach most of
the classes along with help from constables Lea Turner and Lloyd Schoepp.

Dow Chemical has been the program's major sponsor over the years. The Elks,
Pacer Corp, Panago, and the Fort Community Watch have also provided support.