Pubdate: Tue, 11 Sep 2001
Source: Globe-Gazette (IA)
Website: http://www.globegazette.com/
Address: P.O. Box 271, Mason City, IA 50401
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Copyright: 2001 Globe-Gazette
Fax: (641) 421-0516

DARE PROGRAM SHOULD CONTINUE

Summary: Loss Of State Patrol Support Shouldn't Spell The End Of DARE Program.

The DARE - Drug Abuse Resistance Education - program has become quite 
controversial in recent years, with local schools and police departments 
that strongly support it squaring off against some studies that show the 
program's effectiveness at reducing drug abuse among teens is short-lived 
at best.

Couple that controversy with the news recently that the Iowa State Patrol 
has decided it can no longer afford to offer the DARE program in some Iowa 
schools, and it's tempting to sigh, "Oh, well ... Bye- bye, DARE."

That would be the wrong decision.

The State Patrol, faced with limited resources (as are most state agencies 
in the current budget climate) has decided that the $184,000 it spends 
annually on DARE programs would be better spent keeping officers on the 
highways than in school classrooms. Six officers taught the program and 
trained local police to talk to students about drugs.

It's hard to argue with that decision. Having to choose between working on 
highway safety and DARE, we, also, would opt for putting the troopers on 
the highways.

But the loss of State Patrol support doesn't have to be - nor should it be 
- - the end of DARE in some schools.

For example, Clear Lake was faced with the same situation last year. State 
troopers previously offered the program in Clear Lake schools, but then 
decided the community was big enough to handle the program itself. That's 
precisely what happened.

Clear Lake police officers Paul Chizek and David Monson began working with 
fifth grade DARE classes at Clear Creek Elementary School last year. The 
two officers even did their own fund-raisers to limit the city's costs.

"I think it's a great program," Monson said. "We have great support."

Chizek said he sees the DARE program as one building block in shaping young 
people's lives.

"There's a lot of things that are going to impact fifth-graders for a long 
time," he said. Hopefully, DARE is a building block that reinforces the 
message children are already getting from parents, he said.

Most of the studies that have questioned DARE's effectiveness show that the 
message does not last - that those students who receive DARE as their only 
lesson on drug abuse have forgotten the message by the time they hit high 
school.

That doesn't mean it isn't effective as a starting point, however. Keeping 
kids away from drugs must be an ongoing effort that involves the schools, 
the family and the community. DARE can play an important role as one part 
of that process.

Additionally, DARE is a great way to introduce students to police at a 
young age in a non-confrontational manner, to reinforce that the police are 
their friends, not their enemies.

The experience at Clear Lake shows that those schools faced with the loss 
of State Patrol support for DARE would do well to look to their own police 
departments or county sheriffs departments to take over the program.

DARE isn't perfect, and it isn't a panacea, but it's a good start in a 
long-term effort at keeping kids clean.
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