Sixth-grade students in Cherry Hill continue to learn how to make responsible decisions through the Law Enforcement Against Drugs and Violence (LEAD) program, with its strategies to reduce youthful consumption of alcohol, tobacco and other substances.
Those strategies include enhancing protective factors like student bonding with family and engagement with the school and community.
Township officer Anthony Amato is a certified LEAD instructor who helped bring the program to the township in 2022.
“These things have been proven to help foster development of resiliency in young people who may be at risk for any of those substance abuse or other types of problem behaviors,” he explained. “We try to help foster a learning community where young people are going to be provided with the tools to make healthy independent decisions despite being in adverse conditions.”
The township LEAD program began after Amato and two of his fellow officers attended a training class for certification. At the time – with only three officers instructing classes – there was no way for LEAD to be implemented in the entire district, so it was decided to pilot the program in one grade at one school at a time, starting with Rosa International Middle School.
There are now 15 police instructors who teach the 10-week long course once a week to all district students every fall. Lessons usually last about 50 minutes and are often taught on Thursday mornings, though schedules do shift.
“The curriculum is effective in reducing alcohol, marijuana and tobacco use by students by preparing them to act decisively, refusing, you know, offers for drugs, helping students to recognize what the risks are and how to avoid drug related situations,” said Amato.
The decision to teach the program to sixth graders was a strategic one, as those students often experience high stress in the transition from elementary to middle school. The first LEAD lesson teaches how to set a goal and provides tools on how to avoid drugs and other substances.
“The criteria for setting a goal is, it needs to be personal, possible, positive and specific,” Amato pointed out. “I would say that we’re really trying to give students foundational principles for being successful in life, not just how (or) why you shouldn’t do certain things.
“We’re trying to give you the tools to be successful in everything.”
By the end of this year’s program, about 3,000 township students will have received LEAD instruction.
“My favorite part, easily, is the connection with that particular age group,” Amato emphasized. “I pretty much feel confidently I cannot go anywhere in the entire township without running into somebody who’s been a part of the program.”
Amato stressed that while the goal of LEAD is to reduce substance abuse, its skills can also be applied to other areas in the lives of students.
“The core of the program is just empowering the youth to value their own perceptions and feelings and make choices that support drug free values,” he stated. “And this program is going to continue on for as long as we could possibly support it there …
“We do feel that it has a very positive impact on the students.”
