Pubdate: Fri, 27 Sep 2002
Source: Blade, The (Toledo, OH)
Copyright: 2002 The Blade
Contact:  http://www.toledoblade.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/48
Author: Robin Erb, Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/dare.htm (D.A.R.E.)

EMBATTLED DARE MAINTAINS BACKING

Roger Brown has heard about the studies that suggest DARE, the country's 
premier anti-drug program, is ineffective at curbing drug use among its 
students.

But the Williams County sheriff's sergeant and longtime DARE officer has 
heard from countless former students - on the streets, at the stores, and 
even at the county fair.

They tell him they're still drug-free.

"Surveys [are] fine and dandy because that's what the bean counters want. 
We can go out and get all the numbers and show all the drug addicts in the 
world," he said. "But how do you measure that kid at the fair, the one who 
didn't turn to drugs?" He's not alone.

Despite recent studies that suggest that the nonprofit Drug Abuse 
Resistance Education program may be a feel-good but ineffective attempt at 
keeping kids off drugs, most schools and police departments in Lucas County 
endorse it to the tune of $96 a student.

Last year, seven law enforcement agencies in Lucas County spent at least 
$306,408 in base salaries for their DARE officers to reach 3,187 students, 
according to the state.

About half that cost was picked up through fees paid by the state from 
drunken drivers reinstating their driver's licenses, said Stephanie 
Beougher, a spokeswoman for the attorney general.

In the school year 2000-2001, the last for which statistics are available, 
Michigan's DARE officers reached 93,642 students at 1,217 schools, said 
Audrey Martini, coordinator of the DARE Michigan Training Center at 
Michigan State University.

Founded in 1983 in Los Angeles, DARE America reaches students in 80 percent 
of the nation's school districts. It also has reached 53 other countries, 
according the organization's numbers. The lecture-series course begins with 
a 16 or 17-week core curriculum in the fifth grade, and then can be 
reinforced with refresher classes in middle or junior high and in high schools.

But behind the bumper stickers, T-shirts, and graduation ceremonies, 
criticism of the program began as far back as 1994, when a federal study 
found that DARE was popular, but had little lasting influence on a 
student's choice to use drugs.

Chiefs and school officials have begun to doubt its effectiveness lately 
too, dumping it from several large school districts across the country.

In June, Toledo police followed suit, reassigning its three DARE officers 
to street duty. Chief Mike Navarre's decision met with near-tacit approval 
from the school board and administration.

To be effective, Toledo police would have needed at least three times the 
number of DARE officers - a near-impossibility with manpower and budget 
issues, he said.

"DARE works in little communities," the chief asserted. "In bigger 
communities, it doesn't."

Indeed, smaller departments had a lower student-DARE officer ratio and 
those officers often revisited students in later grades in a type of 
refresher course.

Consider that one full-time Ottawa Hills DARE officer was to reach about 80 
pupils last year. In Toledo, each of the three DARE officers were to reach 
465 students, the attorney general's office said.

DARE's supporters also note that for every survey that criticized the 
program, there are reports that applaud it.

In a survey among Maumee students and parents in 1999, 98 percent of the 
more than 600 sixth, eighth, and 11th-grade students "recommended" or 
"strongly recommended" DARE continue in the schools. About 74 percent of 
220 parents said they felt their children were less likely to abuse alcohol 
or drugs because of DARE, Maumee police Chief Bob Zink said.

Moreover, DARE's critics seem to suggest that every student who tries drugs 
is an indictment of the entire program, said Oregon police Officer Mike 
Poddany.

"I don't think anybody is going to say you're going to do this program and 
it's like a magic pill that will guarantee drug free or violence free 
kids," he said. "That's not going to happen."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom