Pubdate: Thu, 22 May 2003 Source: Sun News (Myrtle Beach, SC) Copyright: 2003 Sun Publishing Co. Contact: http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/sunnews/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/987 Author: Jan A. Igoe, For The Sun News Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/dare.htm (D.A.R.E.) 2,100 HORRY STUDENTS IN D.A.R.E. GRADUATION Alabama Theatre hosted 2,100 Horry County fifth-graders who celebrated their graduation from the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program Friday morning. The 17-week program is designed to keep students away from recreational drugs, tobacco and alcohol. "I can't tell you how many parents come up and tell me how much it means to the children to have us there," said Horry County Pfc. Jae Love Anderson, one of four Horry County police officers running the D.A.R.E. program at 16 elementary schools. The 20-year-old D.A.R.E. program has been offered to local students through the Horry County Police Department since the early 1990s. The D.A.R.E. program educates students about the short- and long-term consequences of making bad choices and prepares them for peer pressure. While data on the program's long-term benefits is elusive, Horry County police Sgt. Robert J. Shelley, who heads the program, says he considers D.A.R.E. a success if it helps even one or two kids out of each class avoid trouble. Featured speaker Cecil Chandler, from morning TV's "Cecil's World," told students, "I've seen young kids die from taking drugs." He encouraged kids to talk to teachers and parents about what they see going on. "It's not being a tattletale," he said. Alabama Theatre headliners Kelly Cutts, Greg Rowles and Jeff Zona were on hand to sing. A group of second-graders from Pee Dee Elementary known as Cain's Cool Cuts performed their own song about saying no to drugs. "You get to see the kids actually learning," Horry County Pfc. Dana Weaver said. "You don't realize how much impact you have until they all come together for something like this." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake