By Sara Ballenger
Both sixth-grade classes at Montclaire School have learned eight different ways to say no - to drugs.
The students graduated from the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, also known as DARE, June 4.
The Los Altos Police Department runs the 14-week drug education program and School Resource Officer Mark Laranjo teaches the classes.
St. Simon Catholic School and Miramonte School are the only other local schools to participate in the program, which began at the LAPD in 1987.
“The program offers alternative methods of coping with the stresses of growing up while teaching the children about the dangers of drugs,” Laranjo said. “We know that DARE isn’t a silver bullet, but it provides an important foundation for prevention.”
DARE teaches kids how to recognize and resist direct and subtle pressures that might influence them to experiment with alcohol, tobacco, marijuana and other drugs, as well as violence, Laranjo added.
For example, students learn eight ways to say no to drugs, by just saying “No thanks”; by giving an excuse or a reason; by repeated refusal or keeping on saying no; by walking away; by changing the subject; by avoiding the situation; by giving a cold shoulder or by having strength in numbers of other students around who do not want to take drugs.
Another key concept that the program teaches is that the use of drugs, alcohol and tobacco can have negative and sometimes long-lasting consequences on students lives.
“I learned all of the different ways drugs can hurt you,” said Montclaire student and DARE graduate Taylor Bunka. “Each drug does something different but they all cause death in the end. DARE is so important, it should be taught everywhere.”
Laranjo, parents and community members hope that students come away from the DARE program with the tools for good decision-making.
“You have had the chance to go through a curriculum that is set to move you through life,” Los Altos Police Chief Don Johnson said to the graduates. “You have 17 weeks behind you, but a whole life ahead of you. There are 7,000 kids in Los Altos. Each one of you have to teach those kids from now on and be a role model.”
The majority of the sixth- graders will be attending Cupertino Junior High School after graduating from Montclaire this month. It is the new environment and new pressures of junior high where Jaime Bunka hopes her daughter remembers what she has learned in the DARE program.
“I think the program teaches them and prepares them for what’s coming ahead,” she said. “Learning how to respond to peer pressure has been good, too. I think I am more worried about her going into junior high than she is.”
Each student received a DARE graduation certificate and T-shirt. Two students who scored high on the DARE exam at the end of the program were recognized, as well as the two top essay students who wrote about their DARE experience.
“This program does teach you self-confidence and self-reliance,” Los Altos Mayor pro-tem Kris Casto told the graduates. “Your parents, school, the police department are all here to support you.”
For more information, call Mark Laranjo at 948-8223.
