Pubdate: Fri, 01 Nov 2002 Source: Messenger-Inquirer (KY) Copyright: 2002 Messenger-Inquirer Contact: http://www.messenger-inquirer.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1285 Author: Justin Willis Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/dare.htm (D.A.R.E.) REVAMPED D.A.R.E. RESULTS PROMISING Local D.A.R.E. police officers said they are pleased to learn of the latest study of the anti-drug and alcohol program, which demonstrates promising results with children. Researchers at the Institute for Health and Social Policy at the University of Akron studied about 15,500 seventh-graders, some of whom took part in the program's updated curriculum and others, in a control group, who didn't. They plan to follow the students until their junior years in high school. The researchers found that seventh-graders with the updated program were more likely to find using drugs socially inappropriate, were better at refusing drugs and had fewer misconceptions about how many of their peers use drugs. They were also less likely to say they would use inhalants. The program has been updated since critics in recent years said the program was ineffective in keeping kids away from drugs and alcohol. The effectiveness of the program has never been a question for Owensboro Police Department Officer Eddie Miller, who is in his 13th year as the city's D.A.R.E. officer. Daviess County Sheriff's Deputy Scott Wedding fields questions from Burns Elementary School fifth-graders Tuesday during his second lesson discussing tobacco awareness for the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program. Photo by John Dunham, M-I "To know how effective a program is, you have to wait until they're out of school and in the adult world," Miller said. Children who were in Miller's first few classes have graduated from high school. He occasionally talks with them when he sees them in the community. Many can still remember things they learned in the classes, he said. D.A.R.E., or Drug Abuse Resistance Education, was created by police officers in Los Angeles in 1983 to teach fifth-graders about the dangers of drugs. Like any 19-year-old program, the curriculum in schools today must be updated and evolve to meet current needs, Miller said. A study last August by the University of North Carolina found that several top anti-drug programs, including the original version of D.A.R.E., were either ineffective or hadn't been sufficiently tested. Other researchers have found that illegal drug use among teenagers has remained level or decreased over the past several years, partly because adults are warning students about drug use and encouraging kids to nurture other interests. Following those studies, the D.A.R.E. program has tried to update the curriculum and teaching style, Miller said. "I believe that what they've done is that they've taken a good program and made it even better," Miller said. "Instead of getting up there and lecturing for 45 minutes, it's more of a discussion." Miller has completed the first phase of the updated training, and two deputies with the Daviess County Sheriff's Department plan to learn new teaching styles during a conference this summer. The new D.A.R.E. curriculum will target students not only in fifth grade, but also in seventh and ninth grades. Teachers will also help teach lessons, unlike the current program, which is taught mostly by police officers. The benefit of D.A.R.E. is not just teaching children about the dangers of drugs and alcohol, said Deputy Scott Wedding, a D.A.R.E. officer. Children become comfortable around police officers, and they learn about the consequences of drugs from officers who encounter them daily, he said. "In their lives it's going to be their choice, their decision," Wedding said. "All we do is equip them with the tools. At least they are educated to all the different consequences of these drugs." D.A.R.E.'s success depends heavily on dedicated officers, which the city and county have, he said. Deputy Kelly Payne, the department's other D.A.R.E. officer, said she and Wedding offer the program at each county elementary and middle school. Last year the department reached seventh-graders as well, but scheduling conflicts required them to cut back to kindergarten through sixth grade, she said. She hopes to regain the seventh-graders by next year. "I hated to lose the seventh-grade programs," Payne said. "We think it's really effective." - --- The Associated Press contributed to this article. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom