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Several years ago, a study by researchers at the University of Kentucky indicated that teens who went through the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program were, in the long run, no less likely than kids that didn't go through the program, to use drugs and alcohol. Seems the health classes that covered the use of drugs and alcohol worked just as well, and cost taxpayers considerably less. The study was one of many researching the efficacy of the most widespread "drug education" program in America.

Over 70% of schools in America use the DARE curriculum, making it the single most used school curriculum in the nation. One would think that, given the widespread use of the program, there would be strong evidence that it works. There is no evidence, in fact, that the DARE program makes any difference in our kids' choices. Education is indeed the answer to reach our youth about important topics such as drug use, sex, AIDS, and tolerance, but do we also have the responsibility of "keeping it real" rather than creating a "good guy - bad guy" scenario?

The DARE program consists of police officers coming into classrooms and spending about an hour per week for seventeen weeks to teach kids about drugs, self-esteem and resisting peer pressure. The program has been criticized since its inception on several grounds. DARE's zero-tolerance approach is one of the main criticisms, for the program fails to make distinctions between different substances.

The argument of researchers is that treating marijuana the same as heroin reduces the credibility of the message DARE tries to send. Other criticisms include the focus on law enforcement, which critics state demonizes rather than educates.

A DARE "graduation" ceremony held in Miami in May 2003, illustrates this point.

With thousands of elementary school-aged DARE "graduates" in attendance to receive their certificates, a ceremony was held at the Orange Bowl. Florida Governor Jeb Bush was on hand for the occasion, and he used that occasion to sign a new mandatory minimum sentencing law, as the children watched. But the real fun came at the end.

The close of the ceremony brought a special performance by the Florida Highway Patrol Special Tactics Team, to the excitement and enthusiam of the children The Team rolled out across the stadium's field in an armored personnel carrier. Disembarking from their tank-like vehicle, officers engaged in a "shootout" with a group of "drug dealers." This 'scenario' ended with the truimphant officers "shooting and killing" the bad guys, all to the cheers and delight of the children.

A successful outcome! In front of several thousand children, the police shot and killed several "drug suspects," obviously without their "right to a fair trial." These children now became the latest graduates of the DARE program.

This display of police power and evident lack of consideration of the so-called judicial system of this country seems to be in complete alignment with the ethics of DARE's founder, former Los Angeles police chief Darryll Gates, who was once quoted as having said that casual drug users "should be taken out and shot."

Maybe, therefore, we ought not judge the success of the DARE program based upon how many of its graduates remain drug free, but instead by the number who, as adults later in life, are content to stand and cheer while the state shoots down their less obedient former classmates.

Learn more about this author, DJ Triplett.
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