Pubdate: Wed, 02 May 2007
Source: Natchez Democrat, The (MS)
Copyright: 2007 Natchez Newspapers Inc.
Contact:  http://www.natchezdemocrat.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2205
Note: Note: 150 word count limit on LTEs

D.A.R.E. TO EDUCATE OUR CHILDREN

The best ideas often come from the group, not the  individual, and the
Adams County Sheriff's Office  recognizes that simple fact.

Two years ago the ACSO decided to use the community to  fight crime by
starting several Neighborhood Watch  programs. Deputies meet with the
groups regularly, and  the sheriff has said tips from Neighborhood
Watch  members have solved crimes.

But when deputies talked with watch groups about drug  use they got a
new idea.

Drug prevention and crime prevention starts with young  children and
the ACSO needed to start at the beginning.

A few meetings later the Natchez-Adams School District  was happily on
board. In the fall, district  fifth-graders will begin the Drug Abuse
Resistance  Education program.

D.A.R.E. has been around for years, and it has  succeeded for years.
Concordia Parish's program boasts  of changed lives each year, and
national statistics  prove that education is the best drug-fighting
tool.

Law enforcement and the public schools have joined  forces to make a
positive impact in the lives of area  children.

Their reward won't be money, attention or political  glory. It will be
in the pledges of fifth-graders to  stay drug free.
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MAP posted-by: Steve Heath