Pubdate: Tue, 21 Feb 2006 Source: Appalachian, The (NC Edu) Copyright: 2006 Appalachian State University Contact: http://www.theapp.appstate.edu/index.php?option=com-wrapper&Itemid=50 Website: http://www.theapp.appstate.edu Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2788 Author: Michael Cooper Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/dare.htm (D.A.R.E.) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) STUDENTS TODAY ARE DARED TO FAIL Illegal drugs are a significant part of the culture here in Boone. That is no gigantic shock or revelation. It is like that in most college towns. Sometimes, folks do not know when enough is enough, and the source of that problem is drug education in the schools, or lack thereof. While I am a proponent for the legalization of marijuana and actively endorse a person's personal freedom to choose what they do to their bodies, I have to admit that sometimes people take it too far. Illegal drugs are not entirely bad, unlike what the government wants you to believe. But once that realization is made, young people throw out everything they were told growing up and have to learn the truth about drugs themselves, often the hard way. Many of us have heard stories of overdoses or have seen them first hand, or watched as our friends and classmates washed their futures down the drain by not being careful and thinking they had everything under control. Why does this happen? Like I mentioned earlier, it is because after years and years of only hearing the negatives associated with drugs, thanks in large part to the DARE program, teenagers figure out they were being lied to and disregard whatever tips or facts they learned in the first place. The initial point I want to make is that illegal drugs are not immoral. They are wrong only in a matter of opinion, which happens to be the opinion of those in charge of this country. The DARE program is clearly a failure because it preaches that illegal drugs are downright wrong without exception. Officials within the program have even admitted the failure and concluded that there needs to be an extensive overhaul of the system. Other studies done by independent firms, doctors, the media and universities have reached similar conclusions. So why has a program that has had millions of dollars pumped into it been hardly effective? Let us start with what they teach. Just like what sex education used to be back in the day, the DARE program focuses on the bad, telling just one side of the story. Abstinence was the main advice given during sex education decades ago, while "just say no" is still DARE's strategy. It took an outbreak of AIDS and a substantial number of teenage pregnancies to convince schools to tweak how they taught sex, but for whatever reason, they will not change the approach on drugs. Learning about drugs does matter, and it can be the difference between life and death. So the good has to be taught along with the bad. After having all the facts laid before them can students make educated decisions. When they know they are not hearing the whole side of the story, it makes them less likely to listen at all. Secondly, look no further than who teaches the DARE curriculum to find the biggest flaw. Police officers, specifically the school resource officers, who are the lowest of the low, are the ones informing our kids about drugs. Quite often parents leave it up to the schools to teach their kids about the potentially dangerous substances because they fear they might screw it up. So what happens is our youth learns from the least experienced people possible. We can make a difference in this fight. There is still a long way to go to legalize certain drugs and lessen the penalties for doing others, which both need to be done. Until then, we cannot simply tell students to say "no," hope that they do, and give up on them if they choose otherwise. The preeminent solution is to acknowledge that some will take drugs and our only hope is to instruct the right and safest ways to use them. Michael Cooper, a sophomore journalism major from North Wilkesboro, is an intern lifestyles reporter.