Pubdate: Sat, 20 Apr 2002
Source: New London Day (CT)
Copyright: 2002 The Day Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.newlondonday.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/293
Author: Melissa Standish
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/dare.htm (D.A.R.E.)
Note: The writer is a sixth-grade student at Juliet W. Long Elementary School

TOSSING DARE PROGRAM JEOPARDIZES YOUNG LIVES

To the Editor of The Day:

The DARE Program shouldn't be cut from the Ledyard Education Budget. 
When children know what drugs and violence can do to people, they 
have that knowledge to carry with them for the rest of their lives. 
If the Ledyard school system did not have DARE, think of the things 
that could happen in our community -- more violence, more of a chance 
that children might try drugs or gangs. Is this the kind of town you 
want your children to grow up in?

In DARE, you learn not only about the dangers of using drugs but also 
self-esteem. Self-esteem plays a big part of whether or not you use 
drugs. Your self-esteem is like a big balloon. If you feel good about 
yourself, it is like filling the balloon up with air. When you put 
yourself down or say negative thing about yourself, you are letting 
air out of that balloon. If you have low self-esteem, you are more 
likely to use drugs.

You also learn how to say no to drugs in the DARE program. This is 
very important because as children get older, their peers will 
influence them more and more. They need to know how to stay away from 
"the wrong people" (drug users).

Officer Liz, the DARE officer, is not just a person to teach you 
about drugs, she is also a mentor and a friend. You can trust her 
with your problems. For example, in each fifth grade classroom, there 
is a DARE box where you can leave a note for Officer Liz about a 
problem you have or something great that happened to you. Anything 
that you put in the DARE box is confidential, unless you don't want 
it to be.

Drugs hurt you. They can cause children to have low self-esteem, drop 
out of school, get bad grades, steal, commit violence and even to 
die. If you think cutting the DARE program would be better for the 
budget, think what it would mean in terms of young people. You can't 
put a price on life, so I urge all of the Town Council members to 
vote no on discontinuing the DARE program. The children in our 
community need your helping preventing drug use.

Melissa Standish,
Gales Ferry
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MAP posted-by: Josh