By Susan Bromley
Staff Writer
Brandon Twp.- Ripped phone books and broken bats are not items normally expected to be seen at school.
But that is exactly what many students saw when the S.T.A.N.D. Strength Team visited the Brandon schools recently.
The Brandon School District does not have a D.A.R.E. program, but the township and the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office used D.A.R.E. funds to bring the S.T.A.N.D. program to the school district, as well as run other drug education programs during the week of March 6-10 at Brandon Middle School, Brandon Fletcher Intermediate School and all three elementary schools.
‘We’ve never done a drug program,? says Arnie Terrell, Oakland County Sheriff’s detective and school liason officer. ‘I didn’t just want to show them what drugs are, I wanted them to have an informative and value-oriented message. Middle school students know what drugs are? some of them are doing them.?
The S.T.A.N.D. team consists of men who use their strength to put on a show while giving a positive message about avoiding drugs and violence and staying in school and getting an education. They also promote abstinence. The team has traveled the nation for the past six years with their message.
‘If we can get into every elementary, middle school and high school in America, we believe we can effect change for our nation,? said team member John ‘The Mountain? Penley.
Besides S.T.A.N.D., the Brandon K-9 dog, Bodi gave a demonstration and Terrell also gave a power point presentation to middle school students with a bit of a tougher message. He talked about real cases of Brandon students who did drugs with varying results? expulsions at both the middle and high schools; students who left school in ambulances at both the middle and high schools; a student who was incarcerated and a student who had a fatal overdose.
Terrell says he has faced problems with students in the district abusing drugs, particularly prescription drugs and heroin, the three years he has been in Brandon.
‘It’s crazy and I tell the kids, it’s just stupid,? he said. ‘Kids are snorting pain medicine to get high. I tell them they are poisoning their bodies… Drugs are part of our culture and our society. Kids are under a lot of pressure from peers.?