Pubdate: Wed, 15 Mar 2006
Source: Sherwood Park News (CN AB)
Copyright: 2006 Sherwood Park News
Contact:  http://www.sherwoodparknews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1730
Author: Dave S. Clark

MILLS HAVEN PARENTS TAUGHT DARE PROGRAM

With  students, schools, and the community involved in 
the  prevention of drug use and violence, it seems only  natural to 
involve parents, says Const. Ken Fuhrmann.

The local RCMP officer has just completed the pilot of  the Drug 
Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program  aimed at parents and is 
planning for the next round of  classes.

"This is another important part in the DARE picture,"  said Fuhrmann, 
who was been teaching the program for  students since 1996.

The pilot project was a five-week class for parents of  students at 
Mills Haven School. Twenty-two parents were  enrolled in the program 
to learn about several  different topics.

Parents were taught warning signs to tell if their  children have 
taken drugs, they were given an  introduction into the culture 
children grow up in today  and they were told what to do and where 
they can go to  get help.

"The is nobody more important in a child's life than  parents," said Fuhrmann.

Parents were also taught about the power of peer  pressure not only 
at their children's level but in the  adult world as well. They are 
taught to understand  violence and how to prevent it from occurring in youths.

Fuhrmann said the project went over very well.

"I'm very pleased," he said "For a pilot project it  turned out 
really good. The parents had great  participation. They asked many 
questions and gave great  feedback on what was good and what needed 
improvement for next time."

He said there isn't a date set for the next round of  classes for 
parents, but there is likely to be sessions  held in the spring.

Fuhrmann said parents were always asking him how they  can get more 
information on drugs. But since there was  nobody to train for the 
parent program in Canada, he  had to travel to San Antonio, Texas, to 
be trained.

He only needed three-day training session since he was  already a 
trained DARE officer.

Fuhrmann is one of three officers in the county who  teaches the DARE 
program to students. He and two bylaw  officers teach 100 elementary 
and junior high classes a  10-lesson program each school year.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman