KIDS THINK IT'S COOL, BUT SOME QUESTION VALUE OF DARE

Critics Say Studies Don't Show If Drug Policy Effective

Frazier Elementary School fifth-graders were captivated when Houston police officer Linda Eliason asked them to define the message of her DARE lesson.

Lauren Roehr, 10, quickly raised her hand and stated: "Don't use drugs, because they can hurt you."

The 20 students in Eliason's class in southeast Houston are just a few of the approximately 30,000 students who will go through the Houston Police Department's drug prevention program, known as DARE, this semester.

They aren't the only ones commending the program. A recent "evaluation" gave the HPD program glowing praise for its effectiveness.

However, some people still question the long-term merits of the program.

Ray Driscoll, a former Houston city councilman and long-time DARE critic, laughed somewhat when asked what he thought of the most recent study. "In my estimation, this evaluation is worthless if they're intending to show that the program is keeping kids off of drugs," Driscoll said.

Driscoll and others who read the evaluation's summary questioned its value because it isn't "longitudinal" in nature, meaning it doesn't look at people who went through the DARE program and then analyze their behavior years later.

"This evaluation is similar to a number of evaluations I've seen from around the country," Driscoll said. "And it's pure public relations. It's certainly not worth the $5 million that the city is spending on it, plus the time for the Houston Police Department classified officers."

HPD officials say the annual city budget for DARE, or Drug Abuse Resistance Education, is $3.5 million.

Lt. James Kalinowski, in charge of the the program, said it has been used in Houston since 1987. Today it has 56 officers assigned to about 100 elementary, 27 middle and two high schools in the Houston area.

The evaluation consisted of a research team's questionnaires that were filled out by students and parents.

It found that students reacted positively to the program in numerous ways, including an increase in their ability to refuse tobacco, liquor and drugs. Their answers were compiled and analyzed by a team led by Robert J. Landry, owner of Research and Educational Services.

Gayle Fallon, president of the Houston Federation of Teachers, agreed she would like to see good longitudinal research on the effectiveness of the program. However, she did see merit to the recent evaluation.

"It (the evaluation) gives you a general feeling," said Fallon. "It (DARE) probably does some good. . . . Most of them (teachers) seem to like it. They have no clue how effective it is. They presume it is. We always feel the more information the child has the better. And they (DARE officers) do provide information to them."

Driscoll said the program might be better if it was presented by teachers instead of police.

Fallon disagreed, saying that would only increase teachers' workload.

"Sometimes having it done by an external person varies it a little," said Fallon. "We dump a lot of things on teachers. The last thing you would hear teachers screaming for is to have an extra program we have to implement. Our goal is to make sure they can read. We're just as happy having a DARE officer come on campus. On some of our campuses, we're just grateful to have any police officer come on campus. It's that moment of security."

Terry Abbott, spokesman for the Houston Independent School District, said he talked to school officials about the merits of the DARE program.

"They're all basically of the same mind," he said. "That is, we feel the DARE program has been valuable for our students, has been a good program, and well run by the police department. And we believe that's where the responsibility should stay."

The Landry study was sought by the city after another study developed by former University of Houston-Downtown professor Bruce Gay concluded the Houston program had marginal results.

The new study was paid for by Houston DARE Corp., the Texas DARE Institute, and DARE America. The DARE program is affiliated with the nonprofit organizations.

Landry set aside any suggestion that the evaluation was puffery. He emphasized that 99 percent of the evaluation was out of the hands of HPD employees.

A longitudinal review of DARE's progress in the Houston area would be helpful, Landry said. He added that people involved in the DARE program here are discussing the possibility of following students on a long-term basis.

Kalinowski said: "As far as results, the evaluation demonstrates the DARE program has reduced risk and increased prevention factors. . . . It helps communication between kids and parents and it helps kids."

New DARE programs at Reagan and Madison high schools began in the spring and are expected to quell criticism that the program didn't address longer-term problems that students may keep through their high school years.

"They (officers) get involved with the kids," said Kalinowski, who emphasized that officers spend time with the students beyond the classroom, such as in the lunchroom and on the playground.

Mel Taylor, executive director of the Houston Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, said that he knows Landry and that his work is reliable.

"The data is telling me the kids are getting a substantial amount out of it," said Taylor. "(They are getting) knowledge about drugs and alcohol, knowledge about refusal skills ... and linkages to a positive role model."

Mike Schaffer, deputy director of DARE America, said although the program is sometimes criticized, its effectiveness is reflected in the program's growth. Schaffer said 36 million children across the nation participate in the program and more than 1,000 new communities have started the program in the past three years.

At Frazier Elementary, the students obviously enjoyed the class, which included watching a cartoon video that portrayed a rabbit. The rabbit tried to lure children into smoking cigarettes, drinking booze and taking illegal drugs.

In a brief summary, Aaron Johnson and Brandon Schuetz, both 10, later said the DARE class "is cool."