DARE Impaired
Largest Anti-Drug Program Admits Its Strategy Has Flaws
By Michele Norris
Feb. 15 The DARE that's Drug Abuse Resistance Education program was first introduced almost two decades ago. Since then, police officers have become a fixture in America's classrooms, urging 20 million students a year to "Just Say No." But in the last 10 years, DARE has ignored or dismissed an avalanche of studies that say the program is failing. "Even when these questions came out of extensive research, DARE tended to interpret it as an attack on the program," says Mathea Falco, author of the book The Making of Drug Free America: Drug Strategies That Work. "And in fact, unfortunately [it was] a sign that [DARE was] soft on drugs."
Today DARE admitted for the first time that its strategy may have been flawed, and the program unveiled a new approach.
"DARE's mission is quite simple," explains Glenn Levant, founder and president of DARE. "We want to provide children with the skills they need to never get involved with tobacco, with alcohol, with drugs."
Program Revamped for Older Students
So while the old program was largely based in elementary schools, the new model will emphasize on junior high school students. The old "chalk and talk" lecture format will disappear. In its place, organizers will implement group discussions led by police officers.
And there will be much more role playing, such as learning how to say "no" in the face of intense peer pressure.
Some students now question whether the changes will actually make a big difference. "I think they have to realize that kids do know something about it and not make it sound all corny," says student Eric Kojola. "People have experienced drugs and been around it; just don't dumb it down."
But for many people, the changes simply come too late. With so much research pointing to the programs' failings, critics say that schools may have wasted not just money but perhaps a precious opportunity to keep young people from using drugs.
Largest Anti-Drug Program Admits Its Strategy Has Flaws
By Michele Norris
Feb. 15 The DARE that's Drug Abuse Resistance Education program was first introduced almost two decades ago. Since then, police officers have become a fixture in America's classrooms, urging 20 million students a year to "Just Say No." But in the last 10 years, DARE has ignored or dismissed an avalanche of studies that say the program is failing. "Even when these questions came out of extensive research, DARE tended to interpret it as an attack on the program," says Mathea Falco, author of the book The Making of Drug Free America: Drug Strategies That Work. "And in fact, unfortunately [it was] a sign that [DARE was] soft on drugs."
Today DARE admitted for the first time that its strategy may have been flawed, and the program unveiled a new approach.
"DARE's mission is quite simple," explains Glenn Levant, founder and president of DARE. "We want to provide children with the skills they need to never get involved with tobacco, with alcohol, with drugs."
Program Revamped for Older Students
So while the old program was largely based in elementary schools, the new model will emphasize on junior high school students. The old "chalk and talk" lecture format will disappear. In its place, organizers will implement group discussions led by police officers.
And there will be much more role playing, such as learning how to say "no" in the face of intense peer pressure.
Some students now question whether the changes will actually make a big difference. "I think they have to realize that kids do know something about it and not make it sound all corny," says student Eric Kojola. "People have experienced drugs and been around it; just don't dumb it down."
But for many people, the changes simply come too late. With so much research pointing to the programs' failings, critics say that schools may have wasted not just money but perhaps a precious opportunity to keep young people from using drugs.
