Weehawken isn’t plagued with juvenile delinquency like in other municipalities, but Police Lieutenant Tom McGorty, who has worked as the commander of the Juvenile Aid Bureau in the township, believes it’s better to be safe than sorry.
“Most of our kids in Weehawken are very good,” McGorty said. “Most of our juvenile problems involve kids from other towns. But we have to make sure that we keep it that way.”
For the last four years, McGorty has been an instructor in the town’s Drug Abuse Resistance in Education (DARE) program, in which police officers go into junior high school classrooms and teach them over a span of 17 weeks about the evils of drug and alcohol abuse, as well as other social issues like gang participation, violence, and parental abuse.
McGorty, along with officers Sergio Fasciano and Michael DeBari, meet with the sixth and eighth graders once a week. The officers have been teaching the sixth grade kids in Roosevelt School since the program was implemented four years ago. The program was extended to include the eighth graders a year ago.
“We actually follow a lesson plan that was written by teachers,” McGorty said of the DARE program, which was conceived in Los Angeles in 1983 as a cooperative effort between the police department and teachers, and has been implemented throughout the country ever since. “It’s not just a cop coming into a classroom to give a lecture. There is homework, there are textbooks. It’s a regular class.”
While the course aims to teach children the warning signs of possible drug abuse and other avenues to fall afoul of the law, McGorty said it could be simply reduced to one goal.
“We’re just giving them information to make decisions,” McGorty said. “It’s decision-making more than anything else. Sure, there’s advice and information available, but it’s up to the kids themselves to decide that they want to say no.”
Some of the other issues the students learn about include self-esteem, peer pressure, the consequences of getting involved with gangs and violence, and the “Eight Ways to Say No.”
Last week, 102 sixth graders from Roosevelt School participated in the annual DARE graduation exercises. They received certificates and acted out skits about what they learned in the program.
There was also an essay contest in which the graduates were asked to write about what they got out of the DARE classes.
Ashley Suarez, a 12-year-old sixth grader, was the winner of the contest. “I learned how to control my anger and learned the different ways that you can say no,” Suarez said. “I had no idea of some of the stuff that I learned. It was tons of fun and I felt really comfortable with the teachers. I was really surprised when I learned that I won.”
Suarez was presented with a giant version of Daniel the DARE Lion as her award.
Joshua Delgado, age 11, was also impressed with the program.
“I knew a little bit about what I should do before, but the program taught me more that I wouldn’t have known,” Delgado said. “Now, I know what I should do if I’m approached. I have to stay away from it, because it’s my own choice.”
Weehawken Deputy Police Chief Robert DelPriore said that the DARE program is an annual success in the town. “The kids love it,” DelPriore said. “I think it’s a cognitive effort between the police, the parents, the town, and the schools. Everyone gets together and helps the kids. The parents really get into it and make sure that it works with the kids. The program seems to be working, because the kids are staying clear of the problems. We now offer the program to eighth graders as a refresher course, checking up on them as they get older.”
Roosevelt School Principal Anthony LaBruno believes the program is a huge asset to his school. “The officers have been doing a fantastic job,” LaBruno said. “I think it absolutely helps the students have a rapport with the police. The DARE officers are at their level. They see the officers in different light. So then they have no apprehension about approaching them if they have a problem. They’re not afraid to contact them. They’ve built a bond, a relationship and a trust.”
McGorty said that the relationship goes beyond assisting the students in drug awareness.
“We have a DARE box, where students can put anonymous questions in the box and the officers read them and offer assistance,” McGorty said. “We’ve had kids write about abuse at home, about troubles they have. It’s a big help. It reinforces ethics and values.”