Pubdate: Thu, 17 Jan 2013
Source: Castlegar News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2013 Castlegar News
Contact:  http://www.castlegarnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3613
Author: Cpl. Martin G. Kooiman
Cited: D.A.R.E. BC: http://darebc.com/

WEIGHING IN ON DARE DEBATE

I have read with interest the recent articles relating to DARE 
education and the comments made by Mr. Clement and Mrs. Kelly. 
Firstly, I would like to say that I am very happy that members of the 
Castlegar Community are discussing drug prevention initiatives like 
DARE and I would like to point out a few important issues in regard 
to the comments made.

The DARE component in British Columbia is supported by the (Not For 
Profit Society) DARE, BC which financially supports this program, the 
educational materials and T-shirts that the children receive, with 
the exception of the learning manuals, paid for by the RCMP. The 
officers who teach DARE do so while on shift and in some cases on 
their own time. The program is an additional duty with no extra 
compensation. Many of these officers are parents performing this duty 
because they care about the information children receive in order to 
make healthy choices.

I am not sure what Mr. Clement is referring to when he states that, 
"our present drug education is based on a 50 year old drug 
prohibition policy." For a number of years now drug education has 
focused on children making healthy choices and providing them with 
universal prevention messages. These messages are not only delivered 
by the RCMP, but community groups such as Freedom Quest and Castlegar 
Community Services to name two. The current framework functions 
within a Community Prevention Education Continuum (CPEC).

These professionals have the ability to perform secondary prevention 
and harm reduction strategies with students after delivering a 
universal prevention message. This framework helps meet the needs of 
all students. The DARE program is but one component that is 
implemented within CPEC. These prevention messages are based on 
providing comprehensive, timely information on socially relevant 
topics directly related to making healthy choices. This method has 
seen first time use of marijuana and alcohol in the Kootenay area 
decrease in communities that work within a CPEC. These statistics are 
not from another country.

As for Mr. Clement's comment regarding DARE officers scaring 
children, I could not disagree more. I'm not certain when Mr. Clement 
last sat in on a DARE class, which I recently have done. Let me 
assure you, the reader, nothing is taught but clear and factual 
information about drugs and alcohol.

The DARE curriculum has also been revamped over the years to meet 
children's needs. Not once did my two children, who received DARE, 
ever come home scared straight. They really liked their DARE officer 
and felt cared about by the police in their community, as Mrs. Kelly 
pointed out. The idea of not talking to our children about drugs 
because it could do more harm than good is not sound reasoning. 
Smoking campaigns have proved that open dialogue, educating and 
making healthy choices have radically reduced the number of 
children/people who smoke.

I too believe that the excellent young people of today have the 
capacity to make good choices and we as a community have a 
responsibility to help them. The community of Castlegar is doing so 
and I for one, am very proud of this.

Cpl. Martin G. Kooiman

RCMP Drugs and Organized Crime Awareness Service

West Kootenay BC
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom