This week, February 6-10, marked another milestone in the Drugs Abuse Resistance Education Programme (D.A.R.E.) in Anguilla, according to a release from trainerConstableShawnLakeof the Royal Anguilla Force Community Policing Department.
The above period was the end of the grades 2 and 4 lecture series as well as the graduation of the students at the Teacher Gloria Omolulu Institute. The training, which began on January 10, was delivered to 15 enthusiastic students.
The topics included how to keep out of harm’s way; how to sayno to drugs; and handling conflicts without violence. There were also explanations about various types of drugs and the adverse effects they can have on the body, families and the Anguillian community.
At the end of the programme, D.A.R.E.’s officers,ShawnLakeand Augustina Carbon, presented the students with certificates of participation and a booklet containing a summary of all the lessons. Parents are being requested to review the contents of the booklet with their children.
The week also marked the midpoint for the D.A.R.E. students in form 2 of the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School and in the secondary section of the Teacher Gloria Omolulu Institute. So far, 216 students have participated in interactive sessions on the importance of active listening and respect; drug use and abuse; how students can take charge of their lives; and how to identify and resist advertising techniques used by companies selling tobacco and alcoholic beverages.
Meanwhile, CEO of the Teacher Gloria Omolulu Institute, Dr. M. Linda Banks, described the D.A.R.E. programme as “fantastic.” She went on: “I think that it exposes children to the dangers of substance abuse. But it does even more than that. It gives them social skills for living and enhances their self-esteem. Saying no to drugs is much deeper than that. It comes from a position of students feeling comfortable about who they are so that they can then withstand temptations. Instead of dealing with the negative peer pressure, they can exert positive peer pressure on their peers. So I think it is fantastic. It gets the measure across so that children can understand and work with it.”
