Pubdate: Sat, 02 Jan 2010
Source: Derby Evening Telegraph (UK)
Copyright: 2010 Derby Telegraph Media Group Ltd
Contact:  http://www.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4670
Pubdate: 02 Jan 2010
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/dare.htm (D.A.R.E.)

DRUG EDUCATION COURTESY OF THE POLICE

THE success of an anti-drugs programme in primary schools will lead to
it being extended to secondary schools in 2010.

Pupils at Allenton Community Primary School were among the latest
youngsters to get the message from former policemen involved in Dare -
Drug Abuse Resistance Education.

Dave Gilbert is Dare's chief executive and also a former chief
inspector with the Nottinghamshire force.

He said: "The need for our programmes has never been greater. Dare
programmes include teamwork, role-play and discussion of topics
including bullying, anti-social behaviour and peer pressure.

"We have been working with primary schools in Nottinghamshire,
Yorkshire and Derbyshire and now we want the work to progress as the
children get older and move into secondary school."

Ex-drug squad detective Colin Middleton worked with 68 pupils at the
Allenton school during the autumn term. Mr Middleton helped them
develop the knowledge and self-confidence to resist drugs, bullying
and anti-social behaviour.

He is one of a hand-picked team of serving and retired officers
working with the charity Dare on programmes which help youngsters to
live safe and healthy lives.

Dare started in the UK in Nottinghamshire 16 years ago and is now used
in 280 schools there.

The charity is funded by paid-for sessions and grants.

Mr Middleton, who joined Rotherham Borough police in 1966, had a long
career in the force. When the South Yorkshire Police force was created
in 1974, he was a detective in the drug squad and the murder squad.

He was also a member of the Regional Crime Squad before retiring in
1994.

Mr Middleton said: "I have seen a lot of terrible things in my work in
the drug squad and working with Dare gives me the ideal opportunity to
reach dozens of primary school youngsters before they are really
exposed to the challenges they will face as they grow up.

"Dare aims to give them the knowledge and skills they will need to
live safely in a world where drug use is common.

"The presence of a uniformed retired or serving officer in a classroom
is a very powerful one and the children respond positively.

"We live surrounded by drugs, not all of them illegal. We are clear
about what we mean about the word 'drug' and we educate about
prescription drugs, volatile substances, alcohol, tobacco and illegal
drugs like heroin and cannabis."

Pupils who took part in the sessions in Derby said they were pleased
with their new knowledge and certificates.

Gary Hacker, 11, said: "Dare was a really pleasurable project where we
learned about lots of drugs.

"We learned how to avoid them and all about peer pressure, bullying
and anti-social behaviour. It also told us how to pick the right friends."

Fellow pupil Brooke Shields, 10, said: "Dare helped me to understand
the consequences of making the right and wrong decisions in life."
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D