NEW ANTI-GANG PROGRAM BEGINS IN CAPE SCHOOLS

For nine weeks, Mondays will be GREAT days for seventh-graders at Louis J. Schultz Middle School.

Once a week, Patrolman Charlie Herbst of the Cape Girardeau Police Department will instruct students at the school in the Gang Resistance Education and Training program, known as GREAT.

"The idea is to prevent crime and give us an opportunity to get into the schools and meet with kids," Herbst said.

The Cape Girardeau School District along with the police department's Community Policing progam launched GREAT at Schultz Monday as part of an effort to help stem the rise in gang activity among young people locally. The aim is not only to discourage kids from gang involvement but to inform them of the consequences of violence and crime in general and how such situations can be avoided or dealt with.

Herbst meets with students during their regular health classes eight periods daily. Discussion topics include the rights of victims, conflict resolution, the effects of drugs on crime and personal responsibility.

"The whole idea of GREAT is making good choices," said Herbst.

Another segment of discussion involves cultural sensitivity. Lack of understanding between people of different economic, racial, social and familial backgrounds often contributes to conflicts, Herbst said. With better understanding, some of those problems can be avoided.

GREAT developed in 1991 as a joint venture by the Phoenix (Ariz.) Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. It is intended as a companion to the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program taught in sixth grade.

The Cape Girardeau School District is among a handful in Missouri to begin GREAT instruction.