Pubdate: Wed, 19 Apr 2006
Source: Powell River Peak (CN BC)
Copyright: 2006 Peak Publishing Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.prpeak.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/734
Author: Luke Brocki, Peak Reporter
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/dare.htm (D.A.R.E.)

RCMP TRAIN TO EDUCATE YOUTH

Powell River RCMP Constable Carl McIntosh is used to having curious 
kids ask him "What is the worst drug?" With a serious face, he always 
tells them "The worst drug is the one you're either addicted to or 
are subject to using."

McIntosh just got back from Chase, BC--about 50 kilometres east of 
Kamloops--after a two-week training course on Drug Abuse Resistance 
Education (DARE).

DARE is a comprehensive education program built to equip school 
children with skills to recognize and resist social pressures to 
experiment with alcohol, tobacco and other drugs. The program 
involves uniformed police officers teaching a formal curriculum in a 
classroom setting. Special attention is given to students in grade 
five and six to prepare them for high school and teenage years, where 
they are most likely to face tough decisions surrounding peer 
pressure and drugs.

McIntosh said police are seeing a decrease in drug supply to Powell 
River thanks to targeted enforcement--identifying and actively 
investigating known offenders--but the drug problem is far from over.

"Drugs and alcohol are still involved in the majority of offences we 
deal with," he said, whether they involve persons under the influence 
or desperate to get their hands on drugs and things they can trade for drugs.

"It's very difficult to take a learned behaviour and change it," he said.

That's where DARE comes in. "It's a lot easier to teach a child than 
to repair an adult."

The acronym also serves as a code of conduct to help children and 
teens deal with difficult choices when drugs are available: define, 
assess, respond, evaluate. "We call it DARE squared," he said.

Above all, he hopes the program will steer children away from drugs 
by dispelling myths around drug use. For example, a recent national 
survey showed 80 per cent of grade eight students did not drink 
alcohol. McIntosh feels such reminders could go a long way in the 
fight against peer pressure.

Constable Kerri Chard is also trained to teach the program--nine 
one-hour lessons and a one-hour graduation--and come September the 
pair will be educating grade five students across the district.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom