Wayland Town Crier 1/6/12: New Wayland youth officer ready to go. The Wayland Police Department’s recently appointed youth officer, Shane Bowles, says he’s still feeling his way in his new job. “Right now, I’m like a sponge – just soaking everything up,” he said. One thing he is sure about is that he’s going to expand his presence in the town’s elementary schools, where he plans to teach awareness of stranger danger. “I think grades 1 to 6 are a good time for kids to get to know the police, to learn about what we do, to talk with us, and to ask questions.” Bowles is an eighth-grade “homeroom buddy” who’s in his classroom every morning. “The kids are very gracious. They like having me there, or at least they seem to.” At the Middle School, he said, cyberbullying is a big issue, while at the High School, it’s drugs and alcohol.