DARE TO DISSENT

Editor:

For self-respecting citizens calling themselves educators to support a
propaganda machine such as DARE only shows me how low we've sunk when
hiring teachers.

Real education includes debate, whereas the Oct. 9th letter to the editor
from Denton Elementary School challenged the fact that someone "openly
disliked" the DARE program, as if those who dissent with the DARE program
should keep their opinions to themselves!

The letter says that, "The students learn how to be assertive, stand up for
their beliefs without infringing on the beliefs of others as well ." Does
that only apply if they tout the DARE party line? What if they know that
some states consider marijuana to be medicine? What if their parents
support marijuana legalization, or even drug legalization altogether?

Do we include that point of view? Do we even allow these students to use
their First Amendment right to dissent? Or do we drug-test them or their
parents on the spot because they represent a point of view threatening the
established so-called "wisdom?"

My point is that DARE does not provide all the information, which is why it
simply doesn't work. In fact, children are more astute at spotting
propaganda than their parents and their teachers.

Ray Carlson
Redwood City, Calif.