DARE

Pubdate: Sat, 17 Feb 2007
Source: Janesville Gazette (WI)Copyright: 2007 Bliss Communications, Inc
Contact: http://www.gazetteextra.com/contactus/lettertoeditor.asp
Website: http://www.gazetteextra.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1356
Author: Mike Heine, Gazette Staff

DRUG EDUCATION PROGRAM CUT FROM COUNTY BUDGET
The handwriting is a little sketchy, but the message from elementary students is clear-bring back the DARE program.
Facing budget pressure from Walworth County supervisors and a need to put more deputies on the road, the Walworth County Sheriff's Department eliminated the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program from its 2007 budget, Sheriff David Graves said."It's not a decision I wanted to make, but one I feel I had to," he said.
An external study of the sheriff's department recommends at least nine more patrol deputies.
The last round of graduates earned their DARE diplomas in December.
But more students want that opportunity, and parents, teachers and students are clamoring for it.Pell Lake's Star Center Elementary School fifth-grade teacher Thomas Jooss had DARE graduates write county board supervisors expressing their feelings about the elimination of the drug, alcohol, gang and violence education program.
"I think you should keep DARE going so our younger grades should get educated with this great knowledge," wrote Gabriel Katzenberg. "I have learned so much, like there are over 200 known poisons in cigarette smoke.When I heard you were canceling DARE, I was amazed you were going to cancel a program that kept kids away from drugs."
...

*****

And another DARE program bites the dust.

DARE is an elementary school drug awareness program designed over 20 years ago by LA Police Chief Gates (the same one who testified to Congress that all drug users should be taken out and shot) to create a police presence in schools by having active police officers conduct "drug awareness" sessions in schools to fifth graders.

When the federal government decided to expand its "War on Drugs", it made federal grant money available to local governments to fund programs like DARE. As a result, DARE quickly spread through large and small cities across the country.

It also attracted the attention of scholars and researchers. Study after study was published showing that DARE was totally ineffective in influencing the dru-use behavior of high school and older children. In fact, several of the studies showed that DARE-indoctrinated students were MORE likely to use drugs in high school.

As long as federal funding was available, school boards and police forces were able to avoid the hard choices and could get operating a feel-good, although ineffective program in the schools. Police particularly liked DARE because it enabled them to establish a "police are your friends" relationship with young children.

When federal funding disappeared, more and more school boards found that they could not afford a useless program, and police chiefs needed to keep more of their officers on the streets. DARE has all but disappeared from large city schools, and now small towns are feeling the same pressure.

Why haven't all schools given up on DARE? We are all so focused on saving children from drugs that the attitude is "we have to do something, even if it's wrong."

Yes, children need drug education, but not fever-based sloganeering like DARE. Drug education for children, like sex education, needs to be fact-based, outcome oriented, and based on the ideas of fact-based behaviorial choices.