INNISFAIL – It never gets old for Innisfail RCMP Const. Craig Nelson.
It’s a 90-minute scene of smiles, laughter, radiant pride and huge celebration from the very young.
It’s graduation day for dozens of 10 and 11-year-old kids.
On March 8, 30 Grade 5 students enthusiastically assembled in the library at St. Marguerite Bourgeoys Catholic School to receive their certificate and T-shirt, and watch Nelson cut the big graduation cake.
For the past 10 weeks, Nelson, who is the local detachment’s community schools resource officer, guided the children through the D.A.R.E. program, an acronym for Drug Abuse Resistance Education.
Developed by law enforcement and school officials in 1983, D.A.R.E. was created as a formal way of introducing alcohol and drug use information to young people, and to lower the rate of substance abuse down the road.
This group of kids received a thorough education from Nelson on how to best equip themselves with the skills and strategies to recognize and resist social pressures to experiment with tobacco, alcohol and other drugs.
“I think kids love the D.A.R.E. program. They love the opportunity to talk about some of the hard issues that they are facing and trying to work on the solutions and how to solve them,” said Nelson, adding that youth is a priority for the RCMP, particularly engaging them and building relationships.
“For me, the big part of it is being able to spend time with the kids and building relationships with them. You are able to look after our kids so much better if you’re in a relationship with them.”
And the young students did not disagree.
Grade 5 student Brooklynn Moerike said the program was fun and liked Nelson’s demonstrations. The young student said she was especially fond of learning the skills of making good choices, such as the dangers of using drugs and alcohol, avoiding “bad situations” and learning proper communication skills.
Her classmate Hunter Watkinson said these new skills from the D.A.R.E. program will help him become a “much better citizen” and that it will also be beneficial for many more children in the years to come.
He said the new coping strategies from the program will be essential, like “walking away” from potentially dangerous situations, simply saying “no”, or “flipping the table around” – putting pressure on adversaries to do something healthy.
Theo Bushell said the biggest challenge of D.A.R.E. was trying to remember all the essential information. However, he was able to grasp the often challenging skill of seeking help from others, which enabled him to have better understanding of what the program was offering.
“We also had a D.A.R.E. jar. We could write things down and put them in the jar to ask him (Nelson),” said Bushell. “They could be anonymous. They wouldn’t know who did it. That’s how most questions were asked. It was really helpful.”
This school year is the first one for Michelle Wright being principal. She came to St. Marguerite Bourgeoys Catholic School after many years in Red Deer as a teacher, principal and administrator.
Wright said she was grateful the D.A.R.E. program was being offered in Innisfail as it’s no longer offered in many Red Deer schools.
“The idea of having the school resource officer as a resource to us is amazing, and this is something this community invests in,” said Wright. “This is a continued gift. It is two-fold. It’s kids understanding the facts about drugs and alcohol but the most important piece is the access and positive relationship that they are creating with an RCMP officer so they can feel that they can go and get help if they need it.
“It is a positive interaction, and that relationship throughout all the years is the gift of this program.”
