Pubdate: Mon, 06 Aug 2001 Source: Times-News, The (ID) Copyright: 2001 Magic Valley Newspapers Contact: http://www.magicvalley.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/595 FIGHTING DRUGS TAKES MORE THAN T-SHIRTS AND COOL CARS The Twin Falls School District and the city's police department will decide later this month whether there's room anymore for D.A.R.E., the anti-drug program for fifth- and six-graders. The program is much-beloved by many grownups. But it's increasingly apparent that the Drug Abuse Resistance and Education program has dwindling credibility among its target audience. More importantly, there's mounting evidence from studies throughout the country that it just doesn't work anymore. The Twin Falls police and the school district may spend the money that they now invest in D.A.R.E. on a school-resource officer for elementary schools. A cop in the grade schools may be as effective in deterring drugs as all those flashy black D.A.R.E. T-shirts and brightly painted police cars, and there's a good case to be made that a police presence there is needed to help deter crime. D.A.R.E. -- which is still used by schools throughout south-central Idaho - -- aims to give pre-teens the tools to make informed decisions about drugs and alcohol. But, it seems to us, D.A.R.E. was never more than a partial solution. Perhaps a better approach is the ''asset building'' program sponsored by HealthNet, a coalition of local health, educational and social service agencies and community members. HealthNet promotes skills and attributes that kids need to resist drugs -- and to grow up to be healthy, happy adults. In contrast to D.A.R.E., there's limited preaching involved in asset building. Instead, the program celebrates attributes such as self- respect, personal integrity, and family and community values. And it involves grownups -- parents, friends, neighbors -- along with kids. If you're fighting drug use in youngsters, those adult helpers are indispensable. D.A.R.E. operates under the very real handicap that teen-agers tend to regard with scorn the lessons they learned when they were 11 or 12. That doesn't mean those lessons aren't valuable. It just means that kids by and large nowadays don't buy the '80s-style, just-say-no approach that's at the heart of D.A.R.E. Supporters of D.A.R.E. are correct when they say the program has saved lives, and that even one youngster diverted from substance abuse makes D.A.R.E. worthwhile. Maybe it's just time we tried something more effective. If the Twin Falls schools drop D.A.R.E., they will consider adopting another anti-drug curriculum -- of which many are available. That's certainly appropriate. But keeping kids off drugs is a whole community's job, and it's time we recognized it. That's why the asset building approach makes sense. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens