NEWS FEED

Con: Does D.A.R.E. prevent drug use by adolescents?

Written by Olivia Slagle, Staff Writer

D.A.R.E. is a program that is a familiar memory for most Henderson County students. Those four letters call to mind the smiling deputies, the friendly lion mascot and the graphic pictures of drug and tobacco users. But D.A.R.E. isn’t what is in the forefront of a teenager’s mind when he or she is  offered drugs, tobacco or alcohol. The D.A.R.E. curriculum does little to prepare kids for the real life situations of parties, peer pressure and the stresses that lead teenagers to use dangerous substances.

The D.A.R.E. program is so popular that it covers up the reality that it isn’t effective. A 2009 study showed that after four years, 31 percent of students who participated in D.A.R.E. had used marijuana, as did the same number of students who never had a D.A.R.E. lesson. In fact, the program causes some parents to be less involved in their student’s drug and alcohol education because they believe D.A.R.E. is doing it for them. According to an article published in the August 1999 issue of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 20-year-olds who had taken D.A.R.E. were no less likely to have smoked marijuana or cigarettes, experimented with alcohol, used drugs like cocaine or heroin or succumbed to peer pressure than students never exposed to D.A.R.E.

A large amount of money is spent on this ineffective program. In 2001, economist Dr. Edward Shepard estimated that D.A.R.E. costs more than $1 billion annually, which is $173 to $268 per student per year. Programs that are known to work are being sidelined and remain unfunded simply because D.A.R.E. is well known and historically supported by law enforcement, parents and government.

Students don’t respond to the “Just Say No” and “Drugs Are Everywhere” messages of D.A.R.E. Students who are desperate to fit in are often pushed towards drugs. Other students decide to use drugs or alcohol because it seems “rebellious” after such serious warnings. D.A.R.E. desensitizes them to the dangers.

Another popular aspect of D.A.R.E. is the classes being taught by police officers. But studies show that limited teaching experience and strained relationships in parts of communities make police officers ineffective teachers. Though the program does sometimes change students’ attitudes toward police, the results typically disappear within two years according to Dennis Rosenbaum, PhD. The same is true for students’ thoughts about drugs: the lessons they learn in D.A.R.E. lost meaning after about two years.

Nothing is done to change this program, yet the people who support it have nothing to back it up. “I don’t have any statistics for you. Our strongest numbers are the numbers that don’t show up,” one D.A.R.E. leader said. Indifference to solid facts and the tendency to rely on emotions and circumstances is the way leaders of D.A.R.E. keep this dying program alive. According to an article in the Detroit News by Jodi Upton, D.A.R.E. leadership equates satisfaction with lessons to success, but the statistics show that that is not the case.

Keeping this ineffective program around because of familiarity and popularity can no longer continue. It has little to no effect on the way teens respond to alcohol, tobacco, and drug use, sometimes even reversing the intended effects, and it is extremely expensive. It’s time to find a new way to teach students about the dangers of substance abuse.

For the opposing view on this topic click here.