Pubdate: Sun, 01 Aug 2004
Source: Boca Raton News (FL)
Copyright: 2004 Boca Raton News
Contact:  http://www.bocaratonnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3191
Author: Dale M. King
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/dare.htm (D.A.R.E.)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

DARE TO BE DIFFERENT

Boca Raton Police To Launch

For years, the DARE program - Drug Abuse Resistance Education - has been 
the benchmark for classroom anti-drug intervention. But DARE may not 
provide everything that youngsters growing up in a tough world need.

"We feel DARE works, some agencies don't," said Boca Raton Police Commander 
Maria Maughan, who designed Smart Choices, a new program that will be 
launched on a trial basis in local schools this fall.

"The goal is to provide a prevention-based program," she said. Smart 
Choices is one of just a few new programs in the city budget for fiscal 
2004-2005.

"The schools would like us to teach kids about drug-resistance, 
gang-resistance, how not to be a bully, law enforcement issues, drinking 
and driving, for example."

Like DARE, Smart Choices will be taught by a uniformed police officer in 
the classroom.

City Manager Leif Ahnell, in his proposal that seeks $15,000 to pay for the 
program, says Smart Choices "is a prevention program for youth designed to 
address the areas of drugs, violence, gang involvement and conflict 
resolution."

"Historically," he said, "youth prevention programs have targeted on 
specific issue insidious to youth culture." This program, he said, will 
take in many.

Maughan said Smart Choices will be tried at two schools early in the new 
academic year. Ahnell sees it expanding to a dozen public and private 
elementary and middle schools later.

"The program," Ahnell said, "consists of 16 one-hour lessons, one lesson 
being taught each week. Each student will be issued a workbook containing 
the lessons and will be required to complete the lessons each week during 
class."

Class projects and a few assignments will have to be done outside of the 
classroom, he said.

Students who successfully complete the program will take part in a 
graduation ceremony. "Recognition," he said, "will be given to those who 
have exhibited outstanding performance."

Peter Slack, principal at Boca Raton Elementary School, said he is ready to 
welcome the program "with open arms."

"I'm all for it," said Slack. "Anything that Boca Police do is good. DARE 
is great." Boca Elementary has had a DARE program for years, and Slack said 
it works. But he said "a little upgrading" can help.

He said Barbara Kahlow is Boca El's DARE officer, and has been for two 
years. To Slack, she is actually a familiar face. "When I was a teacher at 
Omni Middle, she was there."

Kahlow said she is looking forward to participating in the new effort. It 
will, she said, focus on some of the DARE-related topics, but will also 
take up subjects like "life skills, self-esteem and good character. And we 
will also look into the influence of the media and the impact of computers."

Discussion of peer pressure will be there, as it was in DARE. But 
participants will also look at the importance of having friends and 
developing goals.

DARE has been a good program, said Kahlow, though it "doesn't reach a 
certain percentage of the kids." But those who take a piece of DARE with 
them remember their classroom teachings when they encountered certain 
situations in real life.

Maughan emphasized that Smart Choices will go beyond drugs and gangs. "We 
want to do something unique in Boca to enhance the learning in schools."
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager