ONTARIO CYCLIST STOPS IN COMMUNITY AS PART OF DARE

Canadian kids1 future is foremost on a cyclist1s mind as he pedals across
Canada for a third time.

Stan Wawzonek stopped in Wetaskiwin, July 16, on his way to the west coast
as he rides to promote the Drug and Alcohol Resistance Education (DARE)
Program.

Twice before, he has ridden in support of recognizing veterans, but the
Brantford, Ont. resident has found it is, literally, a dying cause. 3I did
as much as I could for the veterans. So many of them are dying off, they1ve
reached that age,2 he said.

In search for a new cause, a police officer steered the advocate1s
attention to the DARE program. The educational program introduces a
uniformed police officer into the classroom for 19 weeks to teach students
about drugs, alcohol, peer pressure and other hang ups.

Wawzonek was sold on the program after his oldest grandson graduated from
it this year, but he attended four more graduations to learn more. 3You
walk into a graduation and you see the kids love the police officer,2 he
said. 3The teachers say if they taught it, it wouldn1t be the same at all.
The police officer being in their classroom in uniform is a big thing.
Today our kids need help in any way they can get it ( parents, grandparents
and teachers aren1t always enough. This (program) is a bonus.

3It also opens a dialogue between the parents and the kids about these
subjects,2 he added.

DARE does more than teach kids to say no, it changes lives, said Wawzonek.
He recalled one incident in which a Grade 2 student reported her father had
been touching her after a DARE instructor was invited to expand the scope
of the program by speaking to kids about good touch and bad touch. An
investigation revealed the girl1s father had been molesting her for two years.

3If that officer hadn1t talked about it, how long would it have gone on,2
he said.

Wawzonek talked about another incident when a lost child walked out of the
woods to discover a police officer searching the area for him. Rather than
go to the officer, the child returned to the woods to hide. Children who
complete a DARE class aren1t afraid of a uniformed officer, he said.

3I1m trying to convince towns that don1t have it to have it. Those that
have it, think that it is OEit,12 he said. He also suggests communities
with a DARE program in place to ante up funding rather than cover the cost
of the officer1s time and program instruction from the policing budget.

3The program is so good. It1s the kids1 future. If you only save one kid,
it works. I think some dollars should go to this program,2 he said. The
DARE awareness campaign, which began in St. John1s, Nfld. on April 30, is
coming to a close as Wawzonek draws closer to reaching Victoria, B.C. by
his July 31 deadline.