ORANGE : Graduates Who Took a DARE

It was not a traditional graduation.

This one, held Thursday morning in a movie theater, featured a slide show set to loud music, a local police officer as master of ceremonies, and constant, thunderous applause from the crowd of sixth-graders.

The Orange Police Department held its sixth annual graduation for the 600 students who completed the 17-week DARE program designed to explain the dangers of drugs and alcohol and emphasize self-esteem and helping others.

“The key really is getting them at a young age,” said Detective Craig Kelsey, who administers the program in Orange schools and also handles juvenile crime cases. “Because they are about at that important age where they change to junior high, where they see older kids and are exposed to more things.”

The ceremony featured winners of an essay contest, music and presentation of graduation certificates. Students, each of them wearing the trademark black T-shirt of the DARE program, said that sixth grade is not too soon to begin to learn about drugs and alcohol.

“We know what is going on,” said Sharon Elias, a student at St. John’s Lutheran School in Orange, who read an essay she wrote about the dangers of drugs. “We see all this stuff in the newspapers and television and our parents tell us that it is wrong.”

The DARE course, which is taught by police officers, touches on more than just the hazards of drug use. Students are given a 33-page workbook to help them learn about resisting peer pressure, boosting self-esteem and being a positive influence on friends.

The program is begun at the kindergarten level, where students are taught about such topics as “stranger danger,” nutrition and the importance of self-esteem. The program is administered every other year as they progress through the grades.

“They teach us about how to deal with things--stress, peer pressure and consequences of your actions,” said Monica Freriks, a sixth-grader at St. John’s Lutheran School, who also read her essay at the ceremony. She said that she believes that as she and her friends continue on to high school and college they will never pressure each other to try drugs.

“We stick together,” she said. “And now we have a better knowledge of drugs and alcohol.”