Health fair teaches kids to stay safe

Long summer days can often be an excuse for youngsters to engage in high-risk activities.

To that end, College Park Middle School in Ladson sponsored a health fair to raise awareness among its students about the dangers of drugs and alcohol, personal health and hygiene and peer pressure. Nineteen agencies from Charleston and Berkeley counties participated in the health fair.

The health fair provided a forum for students to ask questions of agency officials and reinforced classroom instruction, Jackson said.

Judith C. Ward,

a health educator of the Department of Health and Environmental Control, provided information on HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. She encourages school administrators and students to arrange tours of the Northwoods Clinic in North Charleston where she works.

'I'm essentially giving them tools and telling them that their bodies are changing,' she said. 'These are important things that can save their lives and keep them in school.'

Detective Cpl. Nehemiah Read

of the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office's Drug Enforcement Unit presented information on the effects of drug use. 'Kids are so desensitized by what they see on TV,' Read said. 'They get the wrong ideas about how to conduct themselves. Hopefully, this event will shed some light.'

Tiffany Brown and Kathleen Agnew,

sixth-graders at College Park Middle School, said as they approach high school, they will think twice about using drugs and alcohol. 'We will know what can happen and we'll say 'no,'? ' Kathleen said.

Reach Jasiri Whipper at 745-5863 or jwhipper@postandcourier.com.