TEAM MAY REPLACE DARE

Plymouth-Canton School District Program Offers Drug Fighters More
Flexibility

CANTON TOWNSHIP -- Police and parents will meet next month to consider
how effective a pilot program has been that could ultimately replace
the DARE program.

In September, the three police departments in the communities of the
Plymouth-Canton community schools replaced the Drug Awareness
Resistance Education program at four schools with the Michigan State
Police TEAM program, which is Teaching, Educating, And Mentoring.

"We haven't had the flexibility we wanted with DARE, so we wanted to
try something new," said Canton Public Safety director John Santomauro.

No decision has been made whether to permanently replace DARE. At a
Dec. 10 meeting at Summit at the Park, police will present to parents
and community members data from a survey from the fall semester.

Santomauro said he doesn't know if DARE -- or TEAM -- reduces drug
use.

"Frankly, I don't know. But I do think having a police officer, a
positive role model in classrooms, is important," Santomauro said.
"Let's be realistic about our expectations for these programs. It's
not going to end all drug use."

Founded in 1983 by the Los Angeles Police Department, DARE has been
criticized by some for being ineffective.

In 2000, an investigation by The Detroit News found that the DARE
program had little influence over whether students use drugs or alcohol.

That same year, the Department of Education said it would no longer
allow schools to spend money from the office of safe and drug-free
schools because the department hasn't been able to demonstrate that
DARE reduces drug use. A University of Kentucky study tracked students
for a decade and found DARE had no impact on their drug use by the
time they reached 20.

The University of Akron in Ohio is conducting a $13.7-million study of
50,000 students in six cities.

DARE of America has praised the study.

"We are pleased to be a part of this project, which will bring
together DARE's renowned school delivery system with the best
evidence-based curriculum for this nation's children," said Glenn
Levant, president of DARE America. DARE operates in 80 percent of all
school districts in the United States and reaches more than 36 million
students. It also is in 54 other countries worldwide.

[SIDEBAR]

WHAT THE NEWS FOUND LAST YEAR

In February 2000, the Detroit News reported that DARE has little
impact on alcohol or drug use among Metro Detroit teen-agers.

The News found that about 60 percent of Metro Detroit high school
seniors in the survey said they had tried drugs besides alcohol in
their lifetime. That compares to the national average of about 55
percent, reported by the University of Michigan's Monitoring the
Future study.