Summer camp program promotes anti-drug message

CHESTERFIELD — Inner city youths are not the only ones at risk for drug and alcohol abuse.

By:Vanessa S. Holt
   Kids from all walks of life need a strong foundation in substance abuse awareness, and area teens are working hard to teach younger children how to stay drug-free throughout their lives.
   The Chesterfield Township Against Substance Abuse (CTASA) recreation program recently wrapped up another summer of educational fun for children and teens, providing summer jobs for the older kids and summer camp for the younger ones.
   Laura M. Capriotti of Bordentown City, director of the program, has been working with CTASA for about five years. She became interested in the Chesterfield drug awareness program because of her concern that people do not realize what a high risk there is for young people in an affluent, rural area to become involved with drugs.
   "The drug scenario seems to get worse in an area where kids have more money," she said. "They’re not safe just because they’re in the country."
   CTASA offers jobs to teen-agers between the ages of 14 and 18, giving them a chance to work with younger children using their own creativity to get the anti-drug message across to kids in a fun setting.
   The program generally employs between 12 and 20 teens in addition to volunteers from the community. Teens are each given a topic on drug prevention to research and work on, and are assisted by Chesterfield Township Police Officer Brian Shane, the township’s drug prevention officer, who provides research materials and a brief introduction to drug prevention for the kids.
   This year the four-week program, held at Chesterfield Elementary School, finished up Aug. 3. Between 60 and 100 children from ages 5 through 13 attended the program, which was run like a summer camp. Parents paid a $25 fee for each child.
   Funds for the program are provided through a grant administered by the county Board of Chosen Freeholders, said Ms. Capriotti.
   Although the amount of the grant varies from year to year, the program generally costs about $10,000 to run, she said.
   Each day kids enjoy activities like cooking, arts and crafts, science and inventions, computer and board games, and outside activities from sports to water and sprinkler games.
   Four adult counselors oversee the programs, said Ms. Capriotti, who is an eighth-grade language arts teacher at Our Lady of Sorrow Elementary School in Mercerville.
   Certified teachers Dolores Taylor, John Dupuis, Sherry Foster-Larocca and Deidre Fabisch act as advisers in the different areas of the program.
   Younger children, in grades kindergarten through second grade, are introduced to concepts of safety through the program.
   "The state Department of Education suggests the way to promote drug prevention among younger children is to promote ways to stay healthy and safe," explained Ms. Capriotti.
   Young kids learn about nutrition and the good food pyramid, have a special "safety week" featuring a visit from local firefighters, and learn about household dangers like the medicines in their bathroom cabinets.
   Teen counselors take topics like peer pressure, smoking, reasons people drink alcohol, and how to handle being at a party and saying no to drugs, research them with literature from Officer Shane, and do research on their own through local libraries or on the Internet.
   Each day, in the all-purpose room, they do a drug prevention presentation based on the research they have done, using their own ingenuity and creativity.
   "They can do a skit, a play, anything they feel is a creative way to capture the kids’ attention," said Ms. Capriotti.
   "I think it’s a great program; it’s something that really offers a positive way for kids to spend their summer," said Ms. Capriotti. "I’m a believer that these kinds of activities keep children busy and involved in something healthy and educational; it truly keeps children drug-free."
   A parent of two teen-age boys, Ms. Capriotti said she believes the key to raising them has been keeping them involved in programs and in their education.
   "You have to give kids another alternative to walking around streets looking for trouble," she said. My key word in life is choice; if you give kids an alternate choice, then wherever they come from, nine times out of ten they don’t want to be in trouble."
   Tiara Tindall, 18, of Chesterfield Township, has been a camp counselor for five years. She said she joined as a volunteer with her friends when she was 13, and enjoys the opportunity to talk directly to kids about substance abuse.
   "It’s difficult when they’re very little, but we teach them about safety," she said. For older kids, she said she adapted some of the drug awareness programs from Northern Burlington Regional High School for them.
   "I love working with little kids," said Ms. Tindall, who graduated from high school this year and plans to study horticulture at Mercer County Community College. "Although a lot of them know things about alcohol and cigarettes, they don’t know that you can lose a loved one because of them."