DARE BECOMING RARER

Drug-Prevention Program Cut Back

Phoenix is the latest Valley city to cut the well-known DARE program from
its schools, citing budget constraints and lack of evidence that it
prevents students from using drugs.

Mesa and Scottsdale police already cut DARE while other cities, including
Chandler and Paradise Valley, have managed to hold onto it.

Schools have been replacing it with other anti-drug programs, including one
where police officers teach students about the legal consequences of being
caught with drugs and the dangers of drinking and driving.

DARE, which stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education, has drawn criticism
in studies the past several years. The then General Accounting Office in a
2002 study, for example, found no "significant differences" in illicit drug
use between students who took DARE and those who didn't.

But Valley parents, police and teachers relate countless stories about how
DARE works.

"I've not only seen the effect it had on the students, but I've had
students from the past come back" to say it helped them, said Arlen Sykes,
a teacher at Kyrene de la Colina Elementary School in Ahwatukee.

One of his former students, Alexis Runninger, 13, now an Ahwatukee
eighth-grader, said she hears classmates talk about using marijuana but she
wouldn't consider it because of DARE. "I would have never learned that they
were bad for me," Alexis said.

Phoenix police liked the program but couldn't afford to keep it and still
have enough money to combat crime, said Kim Humphrey, public-affairs
commander for the police department. The department will use the $500,000
DARE costs to add a vice squad to fight prostitution and related crimes, he
said.

Phoenix police started cutting back DARE a few years ago because the city
faced a budget crunch, said Phoenix police Sgt. Colin Pierce, a former DARE
officer who now heads the school resource officer program.

Six DARE police officers and a police sergeant served Phoenix schools last
school year, which was down from 18 officers and two sergeants about two
years ago, Pierce said. Phoenix paid the entire cost of the DARE program,
though in some cities schools help pay for it.

About 50 law enforcement agencies in Arizona still teach DARE, said Dave
Parsons, a DARE officer in Chandler and president of the Arizona DARE
Officers Association.

In DARE, police officers are assigned fifth- and sixth-grade classrooms to
visit for 10 weeks. Officers offer students ways to say "no" to drugs,
alcohol and tobacco.

In a sixth-grade classroom at Hartford Elementary School in Chandler
recently, DARE Officer Daniel Chavarria talked about an underage college
student who died from excessive alcohol consumption, and warned students of
dangers linked to smoking and drinking.

Rene Montano, 12, said he learned that drugs can cause short-term memory
loss or death and he "would always say 'no' to drugs and alcohol because
Officer Dan taught us a lot."

Chavarria said the DARE officers are also a source of support for kids.

Phoenix police Sgt. James Collins, a former DARE program supervisor,
agreed. "To see the relationship between the officers and the kids . . .
was priceless," he explained.

Years ago in the Madison School District, students and staff produced a
musical about a DARE officer.

Not all are abandoning the program.

DARE is in three private schools and two public schools in Paradise Valley,
said Police Chief John Wintersteen. "It's really valued by the parents and
the schools," he said.

A Nov. 12 vintage car show will benefit the police department's DARE
program, he said. The fund-raiser will help pay for T-shirts and other
extras for the program.

Other schools are trying new anti-drug programs.

Starting this winter in Ahwatukee elementary schools, administrators will
teach fifth-graders how to say "no" to tobacco, alcohol and drugs, said
Samantha Heinrich, who manages prevention programs in the Kyrene Elementary
School District. She hopes police officers will visit the classes.

The district will also provide workshops for parents on helping their
children make healthy decisions, Heinrich said.

Next year in the Scottsdale Unified School District, where DARE ended in
city schools a few years ago, teachers will help middle school students
learn to say "yes" to positive behaviors, said Marla Abramowitz, prevention
coordinator for the district.