159 lines
7.0 KiB
Plaintext
159 lines
7.0 KiB
Plaintext
POLICE PRACTICES
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DRUG EDUCATION
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SAVING AMERICA'S YOUTHS
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By
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Damon Davis
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Sheriff
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Essex County, Virginia, Sheriff's Office
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As America grapples with the increasing use of drugs among
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its young people, police leaders throughout the country seek
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effective solutions to the problem. However, when considering
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specific programs, these leaders must also consider their
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impact. They must find programs that youths, as well as adults,
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accept and support.
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When members of the Essex County, Virginia, Sheriff's
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Office considered ways to reduce drug use in their county, they
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decided to build on a program already in existence in most
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States-the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) Program.
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Moreover, the sheriff's office expanded the program to begin the
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drug education process in kindergarten and continue it through
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the 12th grade.
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Two full-time, uniformed deputy sheriffs spend the first
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semester of the school year teaching kindergarten through 7th
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grade students and the second semester of the school year
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teaching 8th through 12th grade students. Funds for the
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program come from both the sheriff's office budget and a Federal
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grant.
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THE PROGRAM
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The goals of Essex County's drug education program are to
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teach students at an early age how to recognize and resist peer
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pressure to use drugs and to help them understand that most
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individuals do not use drugs. Drug education instructors also
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attempt to impress upon the students that citizens and law
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enforcement agencies must work together to eliminate the drug
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problem. Instructors reinforce these two recurring themes
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throughout the students' elementary and high school years.
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The program concentrates on five general topics. Students
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learn about drug demand reduction, drugs and the law, how to
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communicate choices assertively, how to manage stress without
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using drugs, and how drugs and violence mix. Instructors begin
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at a very simple, general level with the younger students and
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progress to more complex material with students in the higher
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grades. For example, instructors may discuss drug-use symptoms
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in very general terms with younger students, telling them that
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drug use makes individuals sick. With the older students, they
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can be more graphic in their explanations of how drug use ruins
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the health and lives of those who choose to indulge.
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Drug Demand Reduction
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After years of attempting to reduce the supply of illegal
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drugs, criminal justice leaders now believe that the drug
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problem must be attacked by reducing the demand for the drugs as
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well. Drug education instructors approach this problem by
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familiarizing students with the risks associated with drug use.
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They then ask the students to describe the effects drugs have on
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their peers and how this drug use may affect their neighborhoods
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and community.
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Instructors also discuss drugs in connection with crime
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rates, violence, medical emergencies, and suicide rates. They
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attempt to bring the problem closer to home by discussing with
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the students incidents involving either themselves or family
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members that may have occurred as a result of an individual's
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drug use. For example, the homes of students may have been
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burglarized by someone who needed money to buy drugs.
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In addition, instructors discuss the types of peer pressure
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young people may encounter in connection with drugs. Drug
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dealers attempt to coerce students to use drugs by exerting
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different types of pressure-teasing or tempting. Preparing
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students for this possibility and giving them ways to avoid
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yielding to negative pressures help to prepare them to just say
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"No."
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Drugs and the Law
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Through this segment of the program, students gain insight
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into the criminal justice system so that they can better
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understand how it works. The younger students can discuss areas
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as simple as how buying or selling drugs can get them in
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trouble, while the older students discuss the laws more
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specifically. For example, they may discuss why society needs
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such laws, the penalties for violating the law, and the
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differences between misdemeanor violations and felonies.
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Instructors also explain under what circumstances juveniles can
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be tried as adults, the investigation and arrest procedures, and
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how an arrest record on drug charges can affect students in the
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future.
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Communicating Choices
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Another area of emphasis in the Essex County program is how
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students can assertively communicate their choices and feelings
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about drug use to their peers. Instructors suggest certain
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courses of action for students being pressured to engage in drug
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activity. They advise students to change the subject, walk
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away, ignore the person who approaches them, or simply say "No."
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Students also learn to react assertively to drug dealers
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and to design their actions to let them know that the presence
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of drug dealers is unwanted. By acting out different scenarios,
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students learn how to deal with various situations.
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Managing Stress
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This vital segment of the program allows students to
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discuss the stress they feel in their lives and offers positive
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ways to deal with this stress. Instructors encourage the young
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people to manage this stress through constructive activities or
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by simply talking their problems over with another person. The
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instructors' goal is to convince students that they can deal
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with stress in positive, effective ways-they need never resort
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to drugs.
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Drugs and Violence
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The final section of the drug program deals with how the
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illegal use of drugs contributes to the increase in violence
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among young people. During this segment, instructors help
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students develop ways in which they can decrease drug-related
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violence. They also educate the students on the possible
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tactics of drug dealers.
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For example, drug dealers sometimes attempt to intimidate
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students into using drugs by force or the threat of force. This
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intimidation may take the form of verbal, mental, or physical
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abuse.
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Instructors warn that drug use can also cause the users to
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hurt either themselves or others. As instructors make clear,
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drug use often contributes to motor vehicle accidents, suicides,
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and murders.
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CONCLUSION
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The key to reducing drug abuse may lie in the education of
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young people. Clearly, those students who receive drug
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education are better prepared for the temptations they may
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confront in later years.
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An added benefit to drug education given by police officers
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is the rapport built between law enforcement and the youth in
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the community. Drug education instructors sometimes become
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confidants to the students and often render the moral support
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youths need when trying to avoid drugs.
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Citizens and law enforcement agencies must come together to
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form a united front against the use of drugs. Unless this
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happens quickly, America may lose a generation to drugs.
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