Scores of Grade 5 students have earned a special graduation.
And along the way they learned how to say “no” in a big way. That's “no” to drugs and a big “yes” for healthy living as they move forward in their young lives.
Students from three Grade 5 classes at Innisfail Middle School completed an eight-week RCMP-sponsored D.A.R.E. program and received their certificates at a May 25 ceremony. Three students received special recognition for best essay.
Founded in Los Angeles in 1983, D.A.R.E (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) is an international substance abuse prevention education program taught by local police officers, including RCMP in Innisfail and across Alberta, every year.
“It ties in nicely with our health curriculum,” said Erin Machell, a Grade 5 teacher at the school. “It gives kids the opportunity to build a skill set so that when they are faced with those situations they have some of the words they need to get themselves out of the situations, and helps supports their own thinking so they don't feel backed into a corner and not knowing how to get out of situations.”
Machell, who has been through the program with students for several years and twice now with Grade 5 students, noted D.A.R.E. also gives young people time to talk to one another and to practise program strategies.
“What is also good for them is to have interactions with an RCMP member. That is hugely important,” she said.
Innisfail RCMP Const. Chris Lavery, a veteran of many D.A.R.E. graduations, said when the program started there was a focus on what drugs are and what the affects would be but added there has been a shift towards finding solutions when confronted with the problem.
“At some point in their lives odds are that most of these kids will be confronted with smoking, alcohol, marijuana or harder drugs. The focus is on teaching them what to do and finding ways of overcoming those obstacles,” said Lavery. “How do you say no? It is easy in a classroom to sit and say, ‘Yes, we are going to say no to drugs' but it is much harder when you are at your friend's house or out on the school ground or wherever you may be when you are by yourself.
“If you have never thought about it before and then when it's presented to you, there might be a split decision and that split decision might not be a safe one,” added the police officer.
As a bonus, added Lavery, the kids have the opportunity to take what they learned through the D.A.R.E. program for every day life.
“It reinforces what is already being taught in school and along the same lines of making good choices, and thinking before we act,” said Lavery. “Kids are very spontaneous, which we love about them, but when it comes to serious matters we want them to take that second to think before they act, not just act but think. It goes along with everything else. It can be used in their daily lives.”
Erin Machell, Grade 5 teacher
"It gives kids the opportunity to build a skill set so that when they are faced with those situations they have some of the words they need to get themselves out of the situations."
