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BRANDL SPREADS MESSAGE OF D.A.R.E

COLUMBUS - Platte County Sheriff's Deputy Thomas Brandl has known for nearly three decades not to expect too much thanks in his job of handing out citations and warrants. 

But recently, an unexpected visitor to the sheriff's office came to do just that - thank Brandl for his work in promoting the D.A.R.E.  program in county schools. 

D.A.R.E., Drug Abuse Resistance Education, is an anti-substance abuse program facilitated in classrooms by uniformed law officers.  It focuses on providing good decision-making skills to help children deal with peer-pressure. 

Brandl is a quiet man, open but still reserved, seeming more serious than not. 

But when he stands in front of the fifth-graders all dressed in matching blue D.A.R.E.  shirts, trying to show them what an unhealthy habit cigarette smoking can be, he becomes animated and full of excitement. 

Using a uniformed officer in a teaching role helps to familiarize children with law enforcement and provides positive relationships, according to material about the program. 

A week ago, students in Nikki Terry's fifth-grade class at Shell Creek Elementary School, in the Lakeview School District, were receiving the second of about 10 lessons in the program: Tobacco and You. 

Brandl started by handing out three stuffed lions to students whom the teacher identified as doing a good job in the classroom. 

He then went over the D.A.R.E.  model for decision-making, which includes defining, assessing, responding to and evaluating situations. 

"Maybe someone wants you to break a window, and you don't want to do it.  Define it as a problem," Brandl said. 

The lesson involved small group work and a lot of question and answer time. 

"Out of 100 eighth-grade students, how many do you think smoked a cigarette in the past month?" Brandl asked. 

While most of the students' guesses were higher than 50 percent, Brandl told the group that a recent study by the University of Michigan put that number closer to 11 percent.  In showing them that it is actually only a few students who succumb to the pressure, he takes away the idea that it is acceptable and common. 

Using medical props and X-rays, Brandl showed the students images of pink, healthy lungs compared to those of long-term smokers.  They discussed cancer and discolored teeth, and each child wrote their own version of the "Surgeon General's warning" printed on cigarette packages to tell others of the dangers of smoking. 

With his smoking calculator, he warns them that smoking one and a half packs per day for 10 years comes at a cost of around $25,000. 

He believes the uniformed officer approach offers a well-rounded vision of the problems youth are facing.  In responding to domestic disputes, drunk drivers and the like, they see not just what drugs can do to a person's body, but how they affect entire lifestyles. 

Brandl divides his time between all outlying Platte County elementary schools and districts, 11 in all, teaching the D.A.R.E.  program to fifth- and sixth-graders.  Columbus Public Schools no longer uses D.A.R.E., but Columbus Police Officer Gilbert Maschmeier teaches it in local parochial schools.