By Signe K. Skinion

Teaching children about the dangers of substance abuse through a new educational program is bringing Attorney General Jim Ryan to SIUC today.

Vital Choices for Young Children, created by a group of SIUC College of Education faculty, is a revised program to teach pre-kindergarten through third grade children the dangers of substance abuse.

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James Campbell, SIUC associate professor of education and Vital Choices program director, said Ryan gave nearly $50,000 to SIUC in 1994 for the University to revise the program to keep up with changes in society. He said Ryan is coming to campus to help get the revised program going.

This is a program that teaches children preventative measures for substance abuse, Campbell said. This is not a research project but really more a curriculum tool to be used in schools nationally and internationally.

Campbell said the project has been in the works since 1990 when Ryan’s office approached him with the project idea, and the revision began in 1994.

What is great about this program is that it has received the attention of colleagues throughout the nation, and that is an honor in itself, Campbell said. The children will be learning how to make healthy choices for themselves through this program, and that will help the children learn how to avoid using harmful substances.

Michael R. Bastien, grant monitor for the Attorney General’s Office, said after Ryan speaks, the program will begin to take off.

We will start a statewide mailing Wednesday to the other schools and give them the video and audio tapes and the booklets that go with the program, Bastien said.

Bastien said all the schools in the state that educate pre-kindergarten through third grade students will be receiving the program information.

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He said the reason SIUC was chosen as the starting point for the Vital Choices campaign is because the research began here.

Ryan will be speaking at 11 a.m. Feb. 14 in the Student Center Video Lounge on the fourth floor.