Anti-Drug Dinosaur Helps Kids Say No

Children in Gardena have been saying “no” to drugs and gangs because of a program started three years ago that teaches them to make decisions and also increases their self-esteem.

In a series of 10 weekly sessions, police officers and counselors from the Department of Recreation and Human Services visit nine public and private grade schools and one junior high school. With the help of an official mascot called “Gradey,” counselors tell the children about drugs and about themselves. Gradey is a scarlet, stuffed brontosaurus who communicates by wearing signs around his neck.

“I like Gradey because he helps me feel good about myself,” said 9-year-old Jaclyn Lele’a of Amestoy Elementary School during her first session.

With the help of Gradey and human services counselors Lydia James and Roy Sukimoto, Jaclyn and about 30 other pupils get dramatic lessons in how to make decisions.

Counselors list five steps to making a decision: find out what is important to you; identify the alternatives and choices; find out information on the subject; determine the consequences, and then act or decide on it.

And they use Gradey as a confidant. A tin can with a picture and caption stating “Ask Gradey” is available for children who want to ask frightening or embarrassing questions anonymously.

He becomes their best friend and gets a lot of the credit during the program, James said. “All of the neat little items, the stickers, the erasers, the folders, the patches, the homework, the topics of discussion . . . are from Gradey,” James said in describing the way the counselors interact with the children.

The program is called GRADE--Gardena Regional Anti-Drug Education Program--and it gets high marks from some of the children, who indicate that it works.

Fourth-grader Omar Cabezas, 9, said he began the program when he was in the third grade.

“This guy tried to give me some drugs,” he said. “I could say no because of what I learned about drugs. I don’t want to die. I want to live.”

David Banales agreed.

“It’s like a weapon, an edge, a second power that you have against people who try to get you to do things you don’t want to do,” he said. “It’s like you’re in charge. It’s your career that’s going down the drain, your life that will suffer.”

“I think they are very nice,” said 9-year-old Sonia Villarreal, referring to the counselors. “They talk to us like we are kids, but they talk to us like we are their children.”

The focus of GRADE is more than just anti-drug or anti-gang. “It’s pro-individual,” Gardena City Police Chief Richard Propster said. “It’s important for these kids to know that they count.”

“You’d be surprised how many kids say they aren’t special,” James said. “And that’s very important. You begin to see that those teens already involved with gangs or drugs don’t really care about themselves.”

“We are teaching kids survival techniques,” Police Officer Gina Zanone said. “We place them in confrontational situations and give them nine or 10 options on how to get out of the situation.”

Zanone, who has been teaching the program for two years at Peary Junior High School, said it is important for kids to understand that “we are talking about consequences and choices.”

“We never tell the kids, ‘Just say no to drugs. Don’t join gangs,’ ” James said. “We let them know it’s their decision, and it’s up to them to make the choices that are going to affect their lives.”

Students are surveyed before and after they participate in the program about their knowledge of drugs.

According to Leslie Mattingley, Region A director of the Los Angeles Unified School District, pupils scored about 8% better after they took the program.

“It shows that kids do actually learn more about themselves and drugs,” Mattingley said.

The test also enables counselors to determine which issues need to be stressed.

The first item on a true and false examination given to children during their first session was: “I like myself and I feel that I am special.”

One pupil didn’t know how to answer the question and peered over at her neighbor’s paper, hoping to find the answer.

Program organizers said that by the time students finish the course they will know that the answer to that question is: “True.”