 | E-mail this story |  | Write letter to editor |  | Order a classified ad |
| E-mail this story | | Write letter to editor | | Order a classified ad |
Christine Kay
Northern News Services
For him, the program is not about an RCMP officer standing at the head of the class, it's the students figuring out for themselves the many ways to say 'No.'
News/North: How did you get involved in the D.A.R.E. program?
Chris Coles: I got involved in working in the schools down in Nova Scotia while I was there. When I got posted in Nunavut, I sought out a course. I was lucky enough to go down to Edmonton to take the course. I taught D.A.R.E in Iqaluit for two years.
N/N: How is the course structured?
CC: It's a 17-week program, one hour a week. It's very structured. If I went to visit my family in Great Britain and I went to a school, I'd be able to take over the program. If I knew it was week seven of the program then I would be able to teach that course knowing exactly what was discussed weeks one through six.
N/N: How many RCMP officers are trained in Nunavut right now?
CC: There are 10 in the territory right now. I would say approximately seven communities are represented. We double up in some because of transfers.
N/N: How many officers would you like to see trained?
CC: My goal is to have every student in Nunavut go through the program. I'm hoping to get 18 members trained some time in February. It would likely be in Iqaluit. I'm trying to run this course so that the program can be taught in schools this year.
N/N: Why wouldn't you be able to?
CC: We'll be bringing up five people from across Canada to train the officers. D.A.R.E. is expanding throughout the country so there are a limited amount of "mentors" that could come up and teach. It is taught in 19 countries. To become a mentor you have to teach 12 full 17-week programs and take a course. You also have to shadow a mentor on a training course. There's no one in the territory that can do that right now.
N/N: Why do you think it's good to have a police officer teach the program?
CC: The students get to see us as friends, as people they can eventually look up too. I don't stand in front of the class and tell them what they should do. They tell me. I just help them self-discover.
N/N: When will you be teaching the program again?
CC: I'll be teaching it here in Pang. We're going to cover the whole curriculum in four weeks. The first day is Oct. 3. It will be one hour a day for 17 days. We'll see how it goes. There are about 30 students from the Grade 6 class.
N/N: How does the program start off?
CC: We start off with an introduction then we move into the drug portion of the program.
N/N: What do you talk about when it comes to drugs?
CC: We talk about the use of drugs and the difference between illegal and legal uses. If I take a Tylenol for a headache that's drug use. If I take a 100 Tylenols for a headache, that's drug abuse.
N/N: What's your favorite part of the curriculum?
CC: My favorite lesson is lesson five which teaches the students how to say no. We teach eight different ways. Here's the eight ways:
- Saying "No thanks"
- Giving a reason or excuse
- Repeated refusal
- Walking away
- Changing the subject
- Avoiding the situation
- Cold shoulder
- Strength in Numbers
N/N: Why do you do it?
CC: I can spend all my time simply arresting people and charging them. But if I can spend my time in the schools and stop them from committing a crime in the future than that's the reason I joined the police force.
N/N: Is there a way for students to ask questions anonymously?
CC: We have a D.A.R.E. box. It's a box that's in the classroom week to week where a student can put in a question anonymously. During the session I can then answer the question without pointing anyone out.
N/N: Why is this program so important in Nunavut?
CC: I understand that Nunavut has the largest proportion of youth in Canada, so it's important for us to offer them support.
N/N: Who is responsible for the program?
CC: This is not an RCMP program. It's very much the schools, the communities and the police working together. For example, Nunavut Power Corp. sponsors D.A.R.E. financially and First Air provides flights for members to get training.
N/N: What do you hope the children get out of taking the D.A.R.E. curriculum?
CC: It's a hugely positive program. There's no guarantee that children who take the program in Grade 6 will never smoke a cigarette or try drugs.
We don't go into a school and say your child will never try drugs.
We do, however, try to teach them to make their own decisions.
