Program teaches youths to defy drugs

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Matthew Hubby
  • 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  Dover Air Force Base, Del., is one of only 11 Air Force bases world-wide featuring a Drug Education for Youth program. DEFY was developed by the Navy to deter at-risk behaviors by giving children tools to resist drugs, gangs and alcohol.

The goal of the program is to foster relationships between youths and positive adult role models, deliver life-skills training, and deter drug use and gang involvement.

"DEFY is a lot like the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program mixed with Big Brothers and Big Sisters," said Stephanie Harrison, who heads the Dover AFB program. "We do a lot of field trips and activities, but the mentoring and bond built between the mentor and children are the most important parts."

DEFY centers its curriculum around children ages 9-12 to reduce risk factors found in middle school, which is typically where the first exposure to high-risk behavior begins. DEFY combats this by teaching the importance of education, health, physical fitness and citizenship to its enrollees.

The program is broken up into two phases. Phase I is a summer camp, which runs June 20-29. This camp brings the children together with their mentors for the first time, where they attend field trips and learn through a mix of classroom education and physical fitness. They focus on leadership, team building, conflict resolution, goal setting and increasing self confidence.

Phase II is a 10-month mentoring program with meetings held every third Saturday of the month with the children and their mentors, to emphasize the lessons learned in Phase I.
"Sometimes we have children come back as Junior Mentors as they get older," said Mrs. Harrison. "Some of our mentors have deployed in the middle of the program and have still contacted their child every month; it's about caring for the kids."

However, the program does have a few requirements in order to run. The DEFY program must have at least 20 children enrolled before it will be funded by the DoD. If that benchmark isn't reached by early June, the program will not run.

"We had to close down DEFY last year," said Mrs. Harrison. "We didn't get enough children to enroll. It's a good program, it's interesting to the kids and it's unique."

For more information about the DEFY program, or for an application for enrollment or to volunteer, contact Stephanie Harrison at 677-3550 or visit the Youth Center.