Pubdate: Tue, 21 Nov 2000 Source: Gloucester Daily Times (MA) Copyright: 2000 Essex County Newspapers, Incorporated. Contact: http://www.gloucestertimes.com/ ADDRESSING DRUG ABUSE The School Department is considering scaling back the DARE program. School Committee Chairman Michael Faherty would consider dropping it altogether. Faherty is on the right track. DARE does not fulfill its stated mission: to reduce drug abuse among young people. The mission it does fulfill -- to bring police officers and young people together -- is worthwhile but should be reformatted. DARE -- or Drug Abuse Resistance Education -- swept the nation about 10 years ago. Kiwanis Clubs and PTOs lined up to donate money, and police officers competed for the opportunity to serve in the schools. DARE officers were given cars and relatively large budgets. There was complete media coverage of every DARE graduation ceremony. Adults, especially suburban adults, loved it. The program seemed so simple: If you just tell Johnny and Janie about how bad drugs are, they won't do them. A few skits, a few classroom exercises, a T-shirt and bingo, the drug problem is gone. Slowly, a few studies began to show that drug abuse among teens and pre-teens were not affected by DARE programs. This was, of course, politically incorrect and so communities kept funding the DARE programs and kept their fingers crossed. In actuality, DARE programs are just the type of social engineering that clutter up the school day and mask underlying issues. Schools don't cause drug abuse and schools can't solve drug abuse. Young people who abuse drugs may have family problems or may be clinically depressed or may face other complex social problems, none of which can or should be addressed primarily by teachers or police officers. For young people with serious emotional problems, the DARE program is useless -- just ask them. For young people who probably won't abuse drugs, the DARE program provides a level of detail that is unnecessary and even counterproductive. Where the DARE program has been useful is in bringing police officers into the schools. Young people can become less intimidated of authority if they get to know their DARE officer, and individual young people have benefited substantially from the role model these officers provide. But let's not use drug abuse as a cover for building a relationship between young people and police officers. Gloucester has successfully pursued community policing grants that fund a regular police presence in the high school and middle school, and this is both appropriate and honest. If the community wants to fight drug abuse among teens, there are plenty of avenues that are quantifiably more productive than the DARE program. The YMCA Teen Center is an example. The Gloucester Prevention Network is another. Make a donation to Artspace or Child Development Programs. Better yet, volunteer your time -- as a youth coach, as a Scout leader, as a Big Brother or Big Sister, as a tutor. The time and money spent on the DARE program could be better used elsewhere. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens