ALAMEDA POLICE TEACH KIDS ABOUT DANGERS OF DRUGS

ALAMEDA -- In fifth-grade classrooms across the Island, credentialed
instructors are not the only ones teaching.

Instead, most fifth-grade students are getting information about drugs
and alcohol from someone who is probably a little closer to the
problem: a local policeman.

For the past 14 years, Alameda's police department has partnered with
the school district to bring the Drug Abuse Resistance Education
program to every fifth-grader in the city, including those in private
schools.

This year's first group of 450 students to complete the DARE program
were graduated Thursday night in a ceremony at Alameda High School.

Program supporters say it teaches youngsters how to resist peer
pressure to use drugs and helps kids get to know police officers in a
positive light.

Nancy Woo, a fifth-grade student at Edison Elementary School, said the
program taught her why drugs are bad for you. "I love it," she said of
DARE.

Other students said they liked the program because the instructor,
Officer Ed Dowd, has a good sense of humor.

"It's awesome," said Dowd, who was inundated with requests for
classroom visits and hugs from students before teaching his final DARE
class for the semester Wednesday.

He said the program is more effective because it is taught by police
officers who have been on the streets and seen the results of drug
addiction.

"I come into the classroom not only having studied the effects of
drugs, I also have real-life experience," he said.

During the weekly classes, students role-play, learn vocabulary and
watch videos to help them resist drugs and gang pressures.

The police department has the funds to offer DARE for only one grade
level. But Debbie Opperud, school district coordinator for the
program, said students usually get some form of drug abuse education
each year.

"We need to hit them regularly," she said.

But some researchers say DARE and similar programs are ineffective in
the long run. Several studies have come out in the past few years
contributing to the cancellation of DARE programs in some cities,
including Oakland.

Donald Lynam, a University of Kentucky psychology professor, conducted
a study of DARE that measured whether the program had any effect on 20
year olds and found that the program had little lasting impact.

He said part of the problem may be DARE's zero-tolerance message and
using police officers as instructors. "While it sounds good to adults,
they may not be real credible to kids," said Lynam.

But Opperud said the zero-tolerance instruction is mandated by the
state. She also said the Alameda program is effective in other ways,
such as bringing the community together for events such as Thursday's
graduation.

"It's not an inoculation," said Dowd. "The results of us teaching DARE
are not always measurable. We teach more about skills to resist pressure."