Comments on: DARE – Does it keep kids off drugs?

By: big azz

big azz — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 22:07:55 +0000

rggjnh

By: avereage american citizen

avereage american citizen — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 17:55:17 +0000

The Dare program is to help teach kids on how to snitch on thier parents. Legalize pot and pot only. I can see why those other drugs are illegal they actully do hurt you and your body.

By: Larry Thompson

Larry Thompson — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 03:34:20 +0000

Who in their right mind would have the audacity to turn their backs on just one opportunity to make a positive difference in a child’s life? For those of you that don’t care, stay out of the way of those that do. Those of you who belittle the efforts of DARE have just renewed my resolve to find people like you and put them where they belong…you guess where. DARE does work, has always worked, and will continue to prosper thanks to the blessed folks that care to be there, even if for just one child, who will listen to their message.

By: Toni Vivion

Toni Vivion — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:19:58 +0000

If there is only one student who is touched by the Dare program, then that is one less that decides not to do drugs or drink.

By: Hiawatha Bouldin

Hiawatha Bouldin — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 16:53:45 +0000

DARE is a program designed to prevent subatnce use and educate youth on positive choices. The unfortunate thing is that we have so many other influences in the children’s lives that either negate the information provided through DARE or just the simple fact that one hour a week of positive information is nothing compared to the hundreds of hours of hopelessness they receive from their communities, families, peers, media and even the other teachers they have in the schools today. Preparing our youth for positive drug free lives will only happen when we as adults begin to work together to eliminate these dangerous sustances and give up the money they provide. It’s money for death.

By: Debbie Burrows

Debbie Burrows — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 22:02:19 +0000

This is my 15th year in Law Enforcement, my 10th as a full time police officer, including working as a narcotics agent for the District #18 Narcotics task force. I have been a D.A.R.E. Officer for 5 years.

I have seen first hand in South East Oklahoma the horrible things drugs do to communities and families. The only way there is ever going to be a reduction is to stop the demand for the need. The only way to do that is to educate the children.

I’m not here to talk about anyone’s opinion other than my own.

Each year I reach around 1500 kids from K-3, 5, and 7th grade through the Safety and D.A.R.E. Program. I receive hundreds of essays from my 5th and 7th graders telling of the difference D.A.R.E. has made in their life. Not only am I a D.A.R.E. Officer I am also a Campus Police School Resource Officer. I spend about 16 hours a day with the kids in our school system, counting the after hour activities and events. I know our students and the lives they have.

D.A.R.E. is not just about saying NO anymore. It’s teaching them life skills on how to take charge of their life. Teaching them the responsibility and consequences for their own actions, and showing them alternative choices to peer pressure, by working through peer pressure situations. How their choices they make today not only affect them, but many other for years to come.

The Seniors this year were my 7th grade students when I started,
EVERYDAY I have high school students come up to me and thank me for teaching them D.A.R.E. . So I know in my hometown McAlester, OK. D.A.R.E. Does make a difference I see to it everyday.

This year my 5th grade principal has even given me my own classroom for D.A.R.E. It’s Awesome I can’t wait for the kids to see it.

I really want to save them ALL!

If anyone has doubts about the NEW D.A.R.E. Program I encourage you to call our state office at (405)425-2447. Ask about a local program near you. If you’re close to McAlester you are welcome to sit in on one of my classes. I assure you the Oklahoma D.A.R.E Officers are some the best trained in the nation, our Mentors and Facilitators travel to other states to help train as well.

By: Duane Andrews

Duane Andrews — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 21:24:05 +0000

As a current DARE Officer and former Narcotics Detective, I have seen both sides of the drug world. I started as a narcotics enforcer in 1998 and remained in that position until 2001. I have personally seen the tragedy that comes from a life of narcotics use. The violence, property crime and other criminal violations are just the tip of the iceberg. I never thought that a parent would jeopardize the safety of their own child to score dope, yet I saw it time and time again. Small children being raised in the middle of a meth lab, drug users being asked to babysit while the dealer goes to pick up the drugs. I was continually amazed at the social and moral decay caused by the use and abuse of these substances.
Now as a DARE Officer, I have the opportunity to educate the children in my community. The lessons they are taught go far beyond a “Just Say No” message. As Officer Tracy said above, we teach responsibility, decision making and many other things that apply to life and living outside the school. I have experienced several occasions in which I have walked into a classroom and found myself explaining to a child who is now in 5th grade, why I put their mother/father/aunt/uncle in prison when they were 2 or 3 years old. I have yet to have one of those children tell me that what I did was wrong. I have the unique opportunity this year to teach my own daughter’s DARE class. There are so many things discussed in the classrooms that simply don’t get brought up in our conversations at home. I cherish the time I have in the classroom to help these kids understand what to expect in the coming years. We may not save every one of them but, does that mean we shouldn’t try at all?

By: Becky

Becky — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:29:40 +0000

I am an elementary counselor in a large city school district where we have DARE officers in our fifth grade classrooms. I have only seen positive things from this program, not only do they teach the children about the impact drugs and alcohol can have on their lives they also teach them skills they will need most of their lives. The students learn to make good decisions based on facts they have learned, they learn refusal skills and how to use them not only with strangers but also with their friends (whom are usually the first to try to get you to use drugs). This program has help make our students stronger as they go into young adults.

By: Cindi Tracy

Cindi Tracy — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:26:09 +0000

I have been a DARE officer for 6 years. Never in my training or independent research have I ever come across the supposed information quoted by the first responder, ErodedConstitution. We do not teach any of that to our students. If that was on the senate floor, I would guess it was from 60 years ago.
I am also saddened to read that a doctor smokes marijuana daily. Even if I were not a law enforcement officer, I would not want him/her as my doctor, nor my children’s doctor.
We teach so much than just drug resistance to marijuana. No one can claim that alcohol and tobacco does not claim lives every day. DARE also teaches good decision making skills, bullying prevention, and laws, among other things.
I believe that one of the best benefits is the one-on-one contact these students have with law enforcement. For example, I start going into the classroom in kindergarten, teaching personal safety; then continue on to 2nd grade, 4th grade, 6th grade, 7th grade, and finishing in 9th grade, where we discuss driving, driver’s licenses, drinking and driving, and laws.
Yes, I believe DARE works. Like anything, one size will not fit all, but if I can save one students, it’s worth it.

By: Phil Hightower

Phil Hightower — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 16:29:42 +0000

I have been a D.A.R.E. Officer for 13 years in our city. I have people tell me all the time that the program made a HUGE impact on their lives. Yes, everyone focuses on te few who still do drugs but nobody wants t focus on the 95% who don’t do drugs.
There have been too many university studies that prove that drug use is down 25-30 % in the last 10 years. So to those of you who want to critize OUR PROGRAM It is the only program that is still taught around the world since 1987.