SCHOOLS WORK TO MAKE DRUG LESSONS PAY

Iowa schools are changing their approach to drug-abuse prevention and
education.

Instead of periodic, stand-alone events such as Red Ribbon Week and an
alcohol-free prom, school districts now must teach students how to avoid
drugs as part of class activities - if they are to get grant money.

Programs in Des Moines, for example, focus on nutrition, alternative
activities to drug use and building self-esteem. Middle-school students
write anti-drug advertisements and research papers. They perform skits.

At Goodrell Middle School, physical education students do activities
requiring teamwork to accomplish tasks. Programs work to reduce risky
behavior, which also can lead to school suspensions, teen pregnancies,
violence or drug use.

Last school year, 369 of Iowa's 374 school districts were at work revamping
prevention programs, said Linda Miller with the Iowa Department of
Education. Miller helps distribute federal money the state receives through
the Safe and Drug-Free Schools program. Last year $2.8 million in grants
went to Iowa schools.

Five years ago, most Iowa school districts offered a predictable menu for
drug-abuse prevention, she said.

Elementary schools scheduled Rock in Prevention assemblies and celebrated
Red Ribbon Week. Fifth-or sixth-grade students participated in Drug Abuse
Resistance Education, known as DARE. High schools offered alcohol-free
after-prom parties.

Iowa schools seeking federal money for drug education today must offer
drug-abuse prevention using methods and programs proven to be effective,
said Miller.

"The important aspect is to begin building a framework of skills at the
elementary, then hit them hard at the middle school - sixth, seventh and
eighth grades," said Cyndy Erickson, the safe schools/healthy students
coordinator for Des Moines public schools. Des Moines is revamping its
programs and received about $235,000 from Safe and Drug-Free Schools last year.

Delaying the onset of drug use is a key goal. "The longer we can delay
that, the better able to make decisions a young person will be," Erickson said.

The school district draws from a nationally acclaimed list of 10 exemplary
programs. Erickson is looking at one of those programs, Athletes Training
and Learning to Avoid Steroids, for use in high school. The program pairs
weight lifting with drug-abuse resistance messages.

DARE, a 17-week program delivered by law enforcement officers, is not part
of the curriculum.

Since 1998, when new guidelines were introduced, Miller has told school
officials that they can no longer use federal grants for prevention
programs that aren't part of a larger curriculum.

That excludes DARE and Rock in Prevention assemblies, a popular musical
program put on by Des Moines resident Pat McManus' nonprofit group.

Miller also nixes money for after-prom parties or Red Ribbon Week if those
are a school district's only drug-prevention components.

"New federal guidelines don't say schools shouldn't use DARE, but they say
programs should serve kids across all grade levels and should use programs
which are research-based," Miller said.

Miller said DARE doesn't cover multiple grade levels.

There is no preparation or follow-up program. After-prom parties may get
young people off the street for one night, but there's no long- term
message, Miller said.

She views Rock in Prevention as an energetic drug-awareness program, but
not as a comprehensive, continuing program.

DARE, a nationwide program, is used in more than 600 Iowa school buildings
and reaches more than 40,000 students, said John Sheahan, president of the
Iowa DARE Association and principal at Roland-Story Middle School.

A Kentucky study criticized DARE's effectiveness. Other studies have found
benefits.

"I think use of the program may be down a little bit from the previous
year," Sheahan said. "There's the feeling out there everyone is abandoning
DARE because it doesn't work. When you count up 600 buildings, you can see
that that just isn't true."

"I think you will find that DARE is not the only program offered in school
districts, but one piece of the puzzle," he said.

Last school year the Council Bluffs school district created a new
sixth-grade program to replace DARE, said Kim Kazmierczak, the district's
administrator for Safe and Drug-Free Schools. They are working on life
skills and prevention education that involves all grade levels and
emphasizes community participation.

The district dropped the DARE program at the end of last school year.

"The curriculum wasn't flexible enough for what we needed," she said.

The district kept law enforcement officers involved, however, pairing them
with classroom teachers in the curriculum.