Pubdate: Wed, 17 Mar 2004
Source: Naples Daily News (FL)
Copyright: 2004 Naples Daily News.
Contact:  http://www.naplesnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/284
Note: Note: Publisher prints several newspapers - please indicate which 
newspaper in LTEs.
Author: Dave Breitenstein
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/dare.htm (D.A.R.E.)

UPDATED DARE ANTI-DRUG CURRICULUM COMING TO LEE SCHOOLS

Eleven-year-old Hope Daily has never been approached by a drug dealer, but 
she knows what to do.

"I'd say no thanks and walk away," the Bonita Elementary student said.

Hope and her classmates learned that response along with seven other ways 
to say no through Drug Abuse Resistance Education, or D.A.R.E. 
Fifth-graders complete a series of lessons that help them resist the 
temptation of drugs and alcohol.

But a new DARE curriculum soon will be making its way through south Lee 
County schools, targeting students at ages when drug dealers won't just be 
a fictitious lesson. The program will offer more role playing, 
evidence-based content and complex reasoning and less stand-up lecturing. 
New lessons address tobacco, alcohol, marijuana and inhalant use, but also 
social support groups, peer pressure, product advertising, self-confidence 
and styles of response.

Elementary, middle and high schoolers will participate in programs tailored 
to their age groups and maturity levels.

A national study is currently assessing the effectiveness of D.A.R.E., 
which has been criticized for preaching "just say no" while not 
substantially reducing rates of drug use among adolescents. Lee County is 
not one of the six urban communities included in the research, but 
administrators say the program has succeeded in curbing drug and alcohol 
use in Southwest Florida.

"The DARE program is effective in teaching decision-making skills, refusal 
skills and lowering substance abuse," said Director of Student Services 
Chuck Bell.

Lee County plans to develop a measurement system of its own to gauge the 
program's effectiveness, using self-esteem, communication skills and drug 
statistics collected locally. D.A.R.E. instruction is lumped into the 
district's school resource officer program that teaches safety and good 
decision-making skills along with providing general school security.

"If we're going to spend $3 million on a project, we need to know what the 
return is for our students," School Board member Jane Kuckel said.

Lee County schools do not have an immense drug problem, but schools are not 
immune to infiltration, either. A decade ago, the perception was that just 
high schoolers faced drug or alcohol dilemmas, but problems began to creep 
into middle school and now elementary school.

"At the middle school level, there's a lot of peer pressure on kids," said 
Deputy Robert Tillotson, school resource officer at Bonita Middle. "This is 
the age where they start setting the foundation."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom