St. john’s Antigua- The qualities which have helped Constable Audie Browne through the years, first as a child and then an adult, are the focus of his first book.
The small but motivational text is intended for use in the Drug, Resistance Education programme (DARE) where Constable Browne has been an instructor since 2004.
“I aim to target the schools where I conduct the project, hoping all schools will benefit,” Browne told OBSERVER Media.
The officer has six schools under his charge – four primary and two secondary – where he instructs students in the virtues of clean living and wholesome activities.
The author is also a pastor at Pares Pentecostal Church, a position which no doubt influenced the choice of topics in the book – discipline, peer pressure, honesty, trustworthiness, courage and strength through adversity, among others.
The 46-page booklet, the author said, is designed for children from three years up to teenage.
Courtesy, one of the topics in the book, is especially dear to Browne’s heart. He said he is particularly troubled by the lack of courtesy he witnesses all around.
“I don’t think we are courteous enough to each other, he said. ‘Please’ and ‘thank you’ are not said often enough.
Although he has been in the business of teaching young children, Browne said he felt the urge to write down his thoughts from his close watch of behaviour in the home.
“My motivation to write this book stems from my observation of how children talk to their parents. I am hoping that as parents read to their children they will be able to put into practice what they have learnt. It is practice, practice, practice.”
The key, the author stressed, is getting parents to use the book as a tool, as a constant reminder of the behaviour the book is seeking to teach.
“It works. I have seen it work in the lives of my three children in a positive way,” he added.
The book Learning About Ourselves & Our Attitudes In Life is available from the author, who credits Harney Motors for “their invaluable contribution towards the publishing of the book.”
