Pubdate: Wed, 12 Jun 2002
Source: Terrace Standard (CN BC)
Copyright: 2002 Terrace Standard
Contact:  http://www.terracestandard.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1329
Author: Anne-Marie Stiff

DRUG AWARENESS A JOB FOR PARENTS

Dear Sir:

Re: DARE (drug awareness) program.

At the June 4 public school board meeting a motion was passed to implement 
the DARE program in Coast Mountain School District 82.

The District Parents' Advisory Council had a guest presenter at this 
meeting, an RCMP officer who trains DARE program trainers.

A trustee asked this RCMP officer why some parents didn't want their 
children to partake in this program. The response was that she didn't know 
but such parents could be drug users and/or dealers and feared that their 
children would let this information out.

This comment was from an RCMP officer responsible for training other RCMP 
members who will be teaching our children.

I am outraged. I am not a drug pusher/user and my children will not be 
taking part in any DARE program.

I do not want the DARE program in my child's classroom. I am tired of 
teachers raising my children. We, as parents in this community, must stop 
abdicating our responsibilities.

It is up to us as parents to teach morals and good judgment to our children 
and to do our best to keep them out of harm's way. This is not a job for 
teachers or RCMP trainers.

Our society is a scary place in which to be a child with drug abuse and 
violence being an everyday occurrence for so many children. It is our 
responsibility as a community to insure that programs are in place to help 
take care of these social problems facing so many children. But it is not 
the responsibility of the teachers or the schools.

We need our schools to educate our children so that they can grow to be 
productive, contributing members of our communities and to move on to jobs 
and/or higher education so they can compete in this world we live in.

Schools and teachers cannot be held responsible for all of the social ills 
facing us today.

Anne-Marie Stiff

Terrace, B.C.
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MAP posted-by: Beth