BRICK – Taking a page from nearby Manchester, Brick Police will be teaching the #NotEvenOnce Program to students at Brick Township and Brick Memorial High Schools this fall.
#NotEvenOnce is an interactive high school opiate awareness program developed by the Manchester Police Department aimed at teaching students the dangers of opiates before they go away for college or enter the workforce.
The program, which will be taught by School Resource Officers Tim McCarthy and Mark Byrne, as well as Patrolmen Jason Shepherd, John Alexander, Bryan Murphy, Sean Flynn and Jennifer LaRocca, will be during health class for juniors and seniors.
The Board of Education talked about the #NotEvenOnce program at a meeting in August, back when it approved implementing the program in schools.
School officials said the program would define what opiates are and the types of crimes that using opiates and heroin can lead to, as well as dive into the causes and cycle of addition and how to prevent it.
Students would also have an opportunity to hear from a live guest speaker who would share their personal journey in battling heroin addiction.
The goal after completing #NotEvenOnce is for students to have an understanding that beating an opiate addiction requires not only commitment, but treatment, outside intervention, and the support of family and friends. Instead, healthy decision-making and ways to avoid risky behavior linked to substance abuse will be encouraged.
#NotEvenOnce meets all New Jersey Student Learning Standards for health classes, and is being taught in addition to the DARE program taught at the elementary school level and LEAD and SEED programs in the middle schools.
