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PEHDZEH KI/WRIGLEY
Older students at Chief Julian Yendo School in Wrigley are participating in a program designed to teach them how to make good choices.

RCMP Const. Trish Clough is leading students in grades 4 to 8 through the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) Program. DARE was developed in 1983 to teach students skills to avoid involvement with drugs and alcohol as well as violence.

Clough said Northern students benefit from completing the program.

"It's important because up here they see a lot of things," she said.

The program covers topics including tobacco, marijuana, and alcohol. Students also learn about messages sent through media and advertising, what makes a good friend, how to respond to peer pressure and nine ways to confidently say no.

In the first of nine lessons, the program teaches students a decision-making model that helps them break down complex situations. Using the model, students define the situation, assess their choices, make a decision and then evaluate if it was a good decision.

"We try to be interactive with them," said Clough.

In each lesson, students are given scenarios they could face, such as being pressured into skipping class to smoke a joint, and coached through using the model to make a decision on how to respond.

Although they've only completed the first two lessons so far, Clough said the students are responding positively to the program.

"They're interested," she said.

Clough said the students particularly connected with the lesson on tobacco because they can relate to it. They see family and community members smoking, she said.

In addition to providing students with good information, the program is also a great way to allow youth and RCMP to interact. One of the RCMP's primary focuses is youth, she said.

Clough hopes to complete the program and hold the DARE graduation ceremony for the 10 students before Christmas. In the new year, the program will be held at Bompas Elementary School in Fort Simpson and the principals in Trout Lake and Jean Marie River have also expressed interest in having DARE run in their schools, she said.

"Our goal is to get to as many students as possible," said Clough.

In Wrigley, teacher Leona Sellars said the program is going very well.

"We feel this is a very important program," she said.

Sellars said youth need to know the negative aspects of drug and alcohol use and that DARE provides that information.

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