Nearly 2.5 million kids/teenagers will likely experiment with marijuana, alcohol, or tobacco products because of undergoing the Drug Abuse Resistance Education(DARE) program(Shepard, Sloboda, Nakashian 3). The DARE program is a school based prevention program established in 1983 by the Los Angeles police department in an attempt to decrease drug use and violence in neighborhoods that were overwhelming the local police departments(Nakashian 2, DARE.org).What was once local to Los Angeles spread quickly to all 50 states of the United States and 52 additional countries such as Great Britain and more(Sing et al 93). DARE’s original curriculum, purely focused around drugs and violence, has been adapted every few years to more reach the needs of …show more content…
the adapting culture. Now it includes parent involvement, gangs, resisting peer pressure, and so on. The main courses are delivered in fifth or sixth grade, with a follow up at seventh, eighth, or ninth grade depending on when the school thinks is best, and general safety talks are given from kindergarten to fourth grade. Each class is taught by a police office specially trained in the DARE program. All officers interested in teaching a DARE class are required to take a two week course, totally 80 hours, instructing on the curriculum of the class, the most effective way to teach a class, and how to handle a class. Presenters are brought in to help train the officers on drug effects, addiction, and legal issues related to schools. “You need to be part drug expert, part addiction specialist, teacher and counselor,”(Officer Lopez, Sing et al 94). Americans today tend to believe that the DARE program is one of the best, if not the best, drug abuse awareness programs for the youth of this nation. On the other hand, many studies are coming out with evidence saying the exact opposite and that DARE should be heavily adapted to a completely different curriculum. My own view is DARE should be adopted into the school’s own programs such as health. One big argument of DARE is that the price per student is too big for any reasonable expense.
When taken into account the training of the police officers, the DARE merchandise given away at graduation, the DARE car, and so on. The money really starts to pile up. According to Edward M. Shepard, an economic analyst, “With an estimated five to six million students enrolled in D.A.R.E. courses, the economic costs of the D.A.R.E. program are estimated to be $175 to $270 per student annually.” On the other hand, many people will argue that the cost is irrelevant when you’re stopping kids from exposing themselves to dangerous drugs. Although I do agree that it’s very important that kids should not grow up using drugs, having the school teach drug awareness sessions would eliminate the price of training the officers and their yearly wage. The only downside with that is that 89% of kids in the DARE program were happy that the DARE officer was at their school. A feeling that the teachers alone could not give to their students(Royal Canadian Mounted Police 9).
An important goal to the DARE program is to reduce the use of marijuana among teens. A review done by Nakashian about DARE’s new programing having very mixed reviews speaks about how the program tracked the marijuan use of seventh graders as they went on to eleventh grade and concluded that the less kids were likely to try marijuana than the control group and more likely to quit the smoking of any cannabis forms if they had already
…show more content…
started before seventh grade. One strange result was The curriculum's negative impact on alcohol and cigarette use could not be explained by any of the mediators. Researchers were unable to identify which components of the curriculum or the context (community norms or other factors not related to the curriculum) accounted for the increased use of tobacco and alcohol.(Nakashian 13) I think everyone agrees that was a negative factor. So the DARE program did in fact revise the curriculum again to try to fix this. Another strange fact about the alcohol and tobacco increase is that it primarily affected white students. An additional problem related to the DARE program is its position on abuse. DARE teaches that any use of a drug is abuse. When in reality abuse is when a user has a physical dependence to a drug, but “only 14.7% of persons who use illicit drugs ever become dependent on those drugs,”(Nicholson et al). The same kids that are learning this are then pumped out into a world where they see people using drugs such as alcohol or marijuana as a norm not an exception.One student even wrote on a survey, The D.A.R.E. Officers tell you lies sometimes. Marijuana isn’t that bad. You don’t lose your memory—you can remember things just fine—and if it’s so illegal, why can doctors prescribe it? It takes away your headaches and it makes you happy when you’re sad. Sure, the stuff from the streets may be laced, but be smart and know your weed! I’m not encouraging kids to smoke weed, I’m just telling the truth.(Provided by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police) This can cause students to disregard legitimate facts learned from DARE program. DARE should emphasize how drugs affect the growing brain and why norms such as alcohol and marijuana affect growing bodies and brains differently than a fully developed body and brain. How it has much more negative effects now that it can have later in life. DARE has been proven to have amazing benefits on students, such as: social skills, attitudes about drug use, increase in knowledge of drugs, and attitudes toward the police. 96% of students from the DARE program enjoyed their experience(RCMP). But for some reason after a couple years, nearly all of the benefits are lost. “The overall weighted effect size for the included D.A.R.E. studies was extremely small, correlation coefficient = 0.011 (d=0.023; 95% CI=-0.04, 0.08), indicating marginally better outcomes for individuals participating in D.A.R.E. relative to participants in control conditions,”(West & O’Neal 1). A correlation coefficient is a fancy term for displaying how closely related information is the the line that it’s intended to follow. You want the number to be furthest away from zero in either the positive or negative direction indicating that the data is very strong. This data is very close to zero, showing that by eleventh grade, there was nearly no difference than the control group in the areas listed at the beginning of the paragraph. The data was so small it’s “below the level normally considered small,” and “would have needed to be 20 times larger to be considered even small,”(West & O’Neal 3). DARE has pretty consistently been shown to have less positive results than more interactive programs, as a result, the DARE PLUS(Play and Learning Under Supervision) project.
Which uses student voted peers to lead classroom discussions and activities, taking the DARE officer out almost completely. DARE PLUS is a ten session class for middle schoolers that “provides skills in recognizing and resisting influences to use drugs and to handle violent situations. It also focuses on character-building and becoming a citizen in our communities,”(Perry et al 3). The first part of the program is classroom based while the second part is after school activities. Students help create and decide which activities they will be doing to keep the program student driven. Activities such as: neighborhood watch clubs, working with local police officers, creating positive messages around the school, etc.. Students were shown to be 50% less likely to experiment with drugs most likely due to the fact that they had people to fall back on in time of need. These activities built great relationships with other students and members of the community(Perry et al). This is exactly what should be done, this pared with the drug education from required health classes and standard fifth or sixth grade classes is the best way to
go. D.A.R.E. tends to leave parents in a false sense of security for their children. They believe that D.A.R.E. is the best program available to their children, so they tend to decrease the amount of education they provide about drug abuse awareness at home. That brings up another small problem though, parents are not always aware of what their children are being exposed to. It’s easy to say “Don’t give into peer pressure,” but it can be really difficult for a kid to identify the difference of being left out and doing what’s right; many times, kids aren’t even aware that an activity they’re friends are doing is wrong. Parents need to be educated so they can educate their children while the school should still be involved in some way. Training officers for the D.A.R.E. program is unnecessary and can be absorbed into the required health programs already taken in public school. Drug programs should talk more about lightly using drugs or the abuse of prescription drugs. For example, even a little bit of alcohol consumed at this age will destroy small amounts of brain cells because your brain is still developing and although alcohol can be healthy--Moderate drinking of alcohol can be very healthy--it’s not healthy at the age of when someone’s brain is still developing. It doesn’t take serious illegal drugs to do harm. Any abuse of over the counter meds or prescription medicine can cause serious harm.
Robertson, E. B., David, S. L., Rao, S. A., & National Institute on Drug Abuse (2003). Preventing drug use among children and adolescents: A research based guide for parents, educators, and community leaders (2nd ed.). Bethesda, Md: U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse.
The D.A.R.E program offers great information, but it also costs a significant amount of money to run the program each year. The children receiving this anti-drug information, are at a young age and do not understand how severe drugs are and how it can impair a person’s judgment. At age 10, children may obtain a basic understanding of drugs and alcohol at the end of this program, but by the time they reach high school, they will not be able apply what they have learned from the D.A.R.E program.
The biggest question people ask is if the “war on drugs” was successful. According to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), “The goals of the program are to reduce illicit drug use, manufacturing and trafficking, drug-related crime and violence, and drug-related health consequences.” The best way to measure the effectiveness of the “war on drugs” is to focus on these basic questions; Is drug use down? Is crime down? and Are drugs less available? Since 1988, drug use by individuals ages 12 and over has remained stable according to the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA). The number of individuals reporting any drug use has increased by approximately 7 million and the number of those who reported drug use in previous months or previous years has remained unchanged. The Organization Monitoring the Future studies drug use, access to drugs, and perspectives towards drugs of junior and senior high school students nationwide. Results of a study conducted in 2005 showed a minor decline in substance abuse by older teens, but drug use among eighth graders stopped remained the same. However, the changes were not statistically significant and ultimately there was no reduction in substance abuse among young students. Crime in the United States has decreased significantly since 1993, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. On the other hand,
Studies have found that drug courts offer closer, more comprehensive supervision and much more frequent drug testing and monitoring during the program than other forms of community supervision and that “drug use and criminal behavior are substantially reduced while offenders are participating in drug court. The U.S. Department of Education prohibits schools from spending federal money on DARE because it found the program ineffective in reducing alcohol and drug use. The National Institutes of Health funded a study at the University of Kentucky to review the effect that D.A.R.E had on students ten years after going through the program. The study concluded: "Our results are consistent in documenting the absence of beneficial effects associated with the DARE program.
About one out of five 10th graders and about 1 out of four high school seniors used marijuana in the past month (Facts for Teens, 1). It is the second most popular drug among teens in the US (Encarta, 1). Teens, ages 12-17, that use marijuana weekly are nine times more likely than non-users to experience with illegal drugs and alcohol (Fed. Study, 1). More 13 & 14 year olds are using drugs, fifteen pe...
Ennett, Susan T., et al. "How effective is drug abuse resistance education? A meta-analysis of Project DARE outcome evaluations." American Journal of Public Health 84.9 (1994): 1394-1401.
...y lower the IQ of teen users by up to eight points. With marijuana being easier and easier to get on the streets, medical marijuana is now thrown into this, making most teens simple access to marijuana. Others are concerned that heavy marijuana use will lead to marijuana addiction in the user and a lower quality of life as well as health problems, financial issues and more life problems. The flashy marketing attached to marijuana laced drinks and baked goods appear to be marketed towards teens and this is disturbing to many. There is concern that people who don’t need marijuana prescribed to them will lie to doctors to be able to procure a medical marijuana card, allowing them to legally purchase marijuana. These people could be just selling the medical marijuana instead of using it, or they could be giving it to children and sharing it with friends on the streets.
The United States government projected $25 million to support schools in school-based drug testing and other drug-free programs. In 2003, many schools across the nation provided their own funding for student drug testing programs. The President wants to increase this program for 2005. He also wants to continue funding for ONDCP. This media campaign sends anti-drug messages to young adults via web sites, functions, and events on drug awareness. This approach will include information for parents and youth to encourage early intervention against drug use in 2005.
The drug control policy of the United States has always been a subject of debate. From Prohibition in the early 1930’s to the current debate over the legalization of marijuana, drugs have always been near the top of the government’s agenda. Drug use affects every part of our society. It strains our economy, our healthcare, our criminal justice systems, and it endangers the futures of young people. In order to support a public health approach to drug control, the Obama administration has committed over $10 billion to drug education programs and support for expanding access to drug treatment for addicts (Office). The United States should commit more government resources to protect against illegal use of drugs by youths and provide help for recovering addicts.
Glazer, Sarah. “Preventing Teen Drug Use.” CO Researcher. 28 July 1995: 659-662. Mack, Alison.
...ssures to be the best they can be academically. With all these pressures of adolescence on the rise, more and more teens are falling prey to the alluring “high” that allows a temporary leave from their problems and stress. Because teens lack the maturity and knowledge to understand long term consequences, they tend not to think about the down falls that they will face as a result of the drug use. This is especially true when it come to marijuana, as it is seen by so many as the harmless drug. With the increased use of marijuana by youth over the last three decades, it is imperative that better preventative measures, and firmer penalties, be put in place to educate and raise awareness concerning the risks and dangerous side effects that marijuana use can have. Only once society has put these preventative measures in to action, will there be an effective change seen.
High school students are leaders to younger kids and many others in their community. As a leader these student must show others what good character is like, but instead they are destroying their lives by doing drugs. In the past decade the drug use among high school students is on the rise once again. With the internet, their exposure to drugs is much greater. High school students are convinced that they are able to get away with using drugs. These drug addicts soon influence other students into doing the drugs because there isn’t a rule preventing drug use. In order to protect these student’s future, drug tests must be enforced among all students ensuring a safe environment for students to learn successfully. Allowing random drug testing in high schools will shy away students from trying these harmful drugs. The stop of drug use among high school students is crucial because drugs prevents student from learning leading them to dropping out of high school. Students that become overwhelmed by these harmful drugs will ruin their lives forever, but if steered in the right direction they can be saved.
As a college student, drugs and alcohol are constantly creating temptations for individuals. In the United States, the problem with marijuana use is increasing. It is “the most used illegal drug in the world, with almost 160 million people, aged fifteen to sixty four, reporting having used marijuana in the last year” (Smith 429). Friends of users and users are constantly surrounded by the drug, but have no idea of the effects. As the years pass, marijuana is being viewed as a “normal” drug and although some disagree, they find no reason to discourage users.
The first step when beginning to implement drug education in a classroom or school is for the individual that is considering the topic to deem why the implementation is important. There are three main reasons teachers have found the implementation to be important. The first reason is that students are more likely to come in contact with drugs by hearing about them, or using them. By having a program implemented into a classroom or school, it can assist individuals to gain knowledge about the topic. The purpose of this is to help individuals make healthy, responsible decisions about drugs now and in the future that will reflect the individual’s identity and morals. The second reason is to help promote a healthy lifestyle for students. Teachers believe that by engaging students in drug education programs, it can help to benefit well-being of the students so that healthy lifestyles are reached to the fullest potentials. Lastly, teachers have found it to be important because teachers can act as a partner with parents, guardians, and other members of the community, in order to ensure that students are being provided with accurate and developmentally appropriate drug education. The school can provide knowledge to students in an area that is sometimes difficult for parents, guardians, and the community to talk about.
A community is only as strong as its youngest members. The youth impact a community in more ways than one and in a much larger aspect. They are who are out on the streets playing and representing the neighborhood, but they are also the future of the community and society as a whole. It is a responsibility of the older generation to do its best to provide the best resources to ensure that the youth grow up to be respectful and responsible members of society. There is a large drug problem in the youth of today that lead to drug-related crimes and it is something that can be reduced with the right tools. Of the three proposed courses of action, one seems to be the most beneficial not only to stop the crime but also to prepare the youth of today to become the leaders of tomorrow. By helping to fund several youth literacy programs, the youth will be less likely to become involved in drugs in the first place as well as set them up to be successful in their lives. While there is evidence that supports either proposal, the literacy will be the best fitting and impact the greatest number of students.