Ronan Boys and Girls Club teaches drug safety
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RONAN – Less than a week after a handful of Ronan High School students avoided expulsion for drug-related activity, administration at the Ronan Boys and Girls Club was hard at work educating students on the dangers of abusing prescription drugs.
The presentation by School Resource Officer Levi Read on March 13 is part of a 12-week program sponsored nationally by the Boys and Girls Club that encourages making appropriate decisions in regards to drugs and alcohol.
“We see that the timeliness of events happening in the local school district makes it, unfortunately, great timing to say ‘Hey we need to talk, especially to our younger kids, to help them understand this is a serious matter,’” said Aric Cooksley, director of the Boys and Girls Club of Lake County and the Flathead Reservation. “We want to nip it in the bud.”
Cooksley said the program aims to explain not only that drug usage is bad, but also why it is bad.
“Hopefully in the long run you have kids who are influential leaders within their communities to positively impact other people and the whole community,” Cooksley said.
It was evident the older students’ poor choices had already had some impact on the younger generation as Read went through his presentation about how just because a drug is prescribed doesn’t mean it is good for everyone, and that people should not share medicines nor ignore instructions on the bottle.
“Like (the student who was up for expulsion)?” one little boy piped up as Read gave a presentation about the consequences of making poor choices with prescription drugs.
Read told the little boy that he didn’t want the younger kids to get in trouble like the recently punished Ronan High schoolers, and briefed the children on the types of peer pressure they might encounter, including negative influences from adults.
“Just because adults are doing things that aren’t OK, doesn’t mean that you have to do those things,” Read said. “You know what is right and wrong. I want you to do what you know is right. I know some people think of medicine as ‘oh, medicine is a good thing,’ but the thing I want to emphasize is that if medicine is given to you (by a doctor), that’s OK; but if you give it to other people that is wrong.”
Read encouraged the students to get away from the situation and tell an adult if they witnessed drug usage or other dangerous behavior.
Around 70 students will go through the program on Fridays for the next few weeks. For parents and students unable to make the presentations, the National Institute for Health has resources for talking with youngsters about drugs at www.drugabuse.gov
