Pubdate: Wed, 22 Apr 2009
Source: Star-News (NC)
Copyright: 2009 Wilmington Morning Star
Contact:  http://www.wilmingtonstar.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/500
Author: Ana Ribeiro
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/dare.htm (D.A.R.E.)

LELAND CONSIDERS NOT FUNDING DARE PROGRAM

Brunswick County sheriff's Deputy Adam Stanley says being a D.A.R.E. 
officer is the best job in the world. He gets to keep his badge while 
directly inspiring students to stay on the right path, building 
mutual respect and trust, he says.

The county sheriff's office has assigned Stanley and fellow deputy 
Bradley Huggins as full-time D.A.R.E. officers, talking to the 
county's fifth- and seventh-graders about social responsibility and 
the harmful effects of drugs. But in Leland, the commitment to 
D.A.R.E. is holding up needed police resources, according to town 
police Chief Timothy Jayne. Jayne said if the town continues to fund 
Leland Middle's D.A.R.E. program, the ability to handle crime out in 
the streets could suffer. Cash-strapped Leland isn't hiring police 
officers right now. "We need extra personnel in the field," he said.

Jayne's idea is for Sherry Lewis, Leland's D.A.R.E. officer, to be 
transferred to patrol operations or investigative services. His 
recommendation and that of Town Manager Bill Farris is for Leland to 
stop funding the program at Leland Middle starting on June 30, the 
last day of this fiscal year.

But before recommending this, Jayne said he made sure the Brunswick 
County Sheriff's Office would be willing to pick it up. The sheriff's 
office has agreed to do so, said Deputy Chief Charlie Miller, who 
also is a county school board member.

"It gets them ready to make that transition to high school. It's 
really important at that age," Miller said of D.A.R.E., referring 
particularly to seventh-graders. The sheriff's office spends about 
$100,000 a year to present the program to the county's schools, and 
adding Leland Middle will mostly involve reworking the schedule, Miller said.

The New Hanover County school system says its county's sheriff's 
office fully funds its D.A.R.E. program, taught to fifth-graders. The 
Brunswick County school system invests $50,000 in the program for its 
schools but is considering pulling its money out, Miller said.

At last month's Leland Town Council meeting, community members came 
out in favor of D.A.R.E., but the program does have some notable 
opposition. Leland has invested more than $93,500 in D.A.R.E. since 
it took on the program in the 2005-06 budget year, Farris said, and 
he's not sure if it was worth it. "The research on the effectiveness 
of D.A.R.E. is mixed," Farris and Jayne said. In 2003, the U.S. 
General Accounting Office released a study saying D.A.R.E. lacked 
significant long-term results preventing drug use among students. 
Farris said he thinks there are more effective ways to address the 
problem, such as after-school programs and gang intervention. Jayne 
said he knows of many jurisdictions that have switched out of 
D.A.R.E, which stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education.

One of them is Pender County. That county's school system decided to 
discontinue D.A.R.E. this school year and join G.R.E.A.T., which 
stands for Gang Resistance Education and Training.

"There's not a lot of support for federal dollars being used for 
programs such as D.A.R.E., because it does not have nearly as much 
research to suggest it's evidence-based," said Julie Askew, Pender 
County Schools' director of student services. "However, G.R.E.A.T. is 
able to address violence prevention, crime prevention, drug 
prevention. ... It includes the components of D.A.R.E. and goes 
further." G.R.E.A.T., Askew pointed out, is supported and funded by 
the U.S. Department of Justice.

D.A.R.E. does have teenage supporters, however, such as Shallotte 
Middle seventh-graders Lizzie Long and Stone Davis, currently in 
Stanley's class in their second year of D.A.R.E.

"My dad has always told me to stay away from drugs," said Stone, the 
son of Brunswick County Sheriff's Lt. Sam Davis. "D.A.R.E. has just 
taught me so much about drugs, more than anything could've, with all 
the hands-on activities." Lizzie said she wishes she'd have D.A.R.E. 
classes twice a week instead of once. "It's really taught me about 
how drugs are harmful to your body," Lizzie said. "You don't need to 
do all these drugs. You're basically killing yourself."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom