More than 200 Pattaya School No. 8 students were taught to “just say no” to drugs after completing their five-month Drug Abuse Resistance Education course.
Deputy Mayor Banlue Kullavanijaya handed out certificates to the 237 fifth-graders March 31 at the South Pattaya campus. Also attending were top local government, police and education officials.
D.A.R.E., founded in 1983 in the United States, came to Thailand in 1999 and works to give kids the skills they need to avoid involvement in drugs, gangs, and violence. Lessons aim to give children the skills needed to recognize and resist the subtle and overt pressures that cause them to experiment with drugs or become involved in gangs or violent activities.
School No. 8’s courses are taught for an hour each week by Pol. Maj. Chainarong Chaiin and Pol. Maj. Arut Sapanon from Pattaya Police.
The Pattaya D.A.R.E. program aims to educate 1,380 fifth-graders at the city’s ten public schools this year, teaching them how to hold up against peer pressure to use drugs, use their free time constructively and express themselves through an essay contest.
