Pubdate: Sun, 11 May 2008
Source: Oshkosh Northwestern (WI)
Copyright: 2008 Gannett Co., Inc.
Contact:  http://www.thenorthwestern.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2640
Author: Paulette R Glassheim

PARENTS CAN RE-ENFORCE DRUG AWARENESS MESSAGE

When my eleven-year old daughter, Brenna C Glassheim  came home last
fall and informed me that she wanted to  stay after school for
D.A.R.E., my first thought was,  "Great, another after school driving
obligation." My  second thought was "What can a police officer and
some  high school kids tell my daughter about drugs, alcohol,  etc,
that I can't?"

What I learned is that D.A.R.E., (Drug Abuse Resistance  Education) is
a program that is committed to educate;  not only with the help of
police officers, who too  often witness the harmful effects of drugs
and alcohol  abuse, but also the experience of students who may have
been pressured to experiment.

As a parent, I learned that I can tell my girls to  "just say no" or
"live above the influence." Those are  just words; just slogans. I
found that D.A.R.E. was  more than just words, or slogans. D.A.R.E. is
a group  of caring people who believe in their work and work  towards
their belief that our children (or young  adults) can be what all
children should be--drug and  alcohol free.

I encourage all parents to have their children  participate in
D.A.R.E. My daughter learned how to make  new friends, how to deal
with peer pressure, and how to  make good choices. She also learned
from the experience  of others the negative effects that the abuse of
drugs  and alcohol has on our bodies and our society.

That's an education to last a lifetime!

Paulette R Glassheim,

Member, D.A.R.E. Advisory Board ,Oshkosh
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MAP posted-by: Derek