SCHOOLS DROP D.A.R.E. PROGRAM

The Salem-Keizer School District Says The Anti-drug Program Cut Too Much
Into Core Curriculum

Following a national trend , the Salem-Keizer School District has abandoned
the well-know Drug Abuse Resistance Education program n half of it's schools.

The other half of the schools are evaluating the effective of the police
aught program, once touted as a national model for keeping kids drug-free.
Many teachers in those elementary schools have said they don't have ime in
their busy classroom schedules for the program; they want DARE o be offered
after school.

Defenders of DARE say it builds self-esteem while teaching while teaching
kids to say no to drugs and alcohol. But a growing body of studies suggests
that the benefits don't last.

"Most kids probably aren't going to listen," said Serena Dahl, 10, a fifth
grader at Liberty Elementary School.

State schools chief Norma Paulus believes DARE is ineffective. She thinks
schools should re-evaluate the role of the program in the school day. "It's
intrusive on instructional time and the studies don't show it works," she
said. "I think the better alternative ... is to have a strong health
program." According to a 1998 study by Salem-Keizer Together, a community
drug-prevention network, the number of sixth graders who use drugs at a
moderate o high rate rose to an all time high of 6.1 percent in 1998.
Thirteen percent of eight-graders and 19.2 percent of 11th-graders reported
drug use at that level.

DARE is taught one hour a week over sixteen weeks to fifth graders. A
police officer encourages kids to say no to drugs by telling them the
effects of drugs on their bodies, the potential consequences of using drugs
and specific ways to say no. The program also works on building self-esteem
and teaching children to be assertive.

Salem-Keizer students already learn the skills taught in DARE from eachers
and counselors, said Wink Miller, the school district's director of
elementary education. "We'll continue to focus on kids living healthy
lifestyles. We think that will help us do the same things DARE will do for
us," Miller said. But John Stackhouse, a Salem police officer who teaches
DARE in Salem elementary schools, said teachers can't present lessons the
same way he does. "We walk in and have immediate credibility based on our
background," said Stackhouse, who was a narcotics officer in Salem for
three years. "Every working cop is going to have a different perspective on
the effects of drugs." Sarah Killian, a fifth-grader, said police officers
tell stories of real-life experiences that make her want to stay away from
drugs. She doubts her regular teacher could do the same thing.

"It's nice to have the police officer come because he's more experienced",
she said. DARE also allows police officers to develop rapport with with
students and their parents, said Marion County Sheriff Raul Ramirez, a
staunch DARE supporter.

Marion County deputies who taught DARE in Salem-Keizer schools were
reassigned a year ago. The deputies, paid with school district funds,
became ull-time school resource officers. But deputies still teach DARE in
12 elementary schools outside the Salem-Keizer School District. "It's
allowed us to bond with the community. We see that as a manner of
reinforcing values," he said. "I wish we could be in every school." Keizer
elementary school teachers asked a year ago to eliminate the DARE program,
in part because officers weren't available to teach at the same time every
week. The officers' unpredictable schedules sometimes meant that DARE
nterrupted class time devoted to core classes.

"It's more important for kids to learn to read and write," Paulus said. But
officers can teach the basics while doing the DARE lessons, supporters say.
Without the DARE program, children don't connect with police in a
meaningful way. "We're disappointed," said Keizer Police Lt. Kent Barker.
"It's unfortunate because we're going to lose the contact with grade school
kids." Whiteacre Middle School in Keizer planned to teach DARE when it was
cut from the elementary schools, but administrators decided their wasn't
time. Courtney Brooks, a fifth-grader at Liberty, said middle school is the
time when she thinks she'll feel pressure to use drugs or drink alcohol.
"When you're in middle school, it's like, I need to make some friends," she
said. Amber Hames, 10, said, "I don't think one year is enough." The
commitment of good intentioned police officers makes it difficult for
school administrators to reject DARE.

"It's almost sacred. Sometimes it's hard to let go," said Larry Austin, a
spokesman for the Oregon Department of Education.

But Salem-Keizer school officials are feeling pressure from the state to
drop DARE, and they're concerned about the state's new instructional
standards and the schools' low test scores. As a result. they're rethinking
he way they use teaching time.

"It's not a movement away because we value the service of the program, but
it's our need to capture more time to intensify instruction," said Marlin
Herb, executive assistant to the superintendent of Salem-Keizer schools.
Carla Moyer, a prevention specialist for the school district, said DARE's
dose of refusal skills to fifth-graders isn't enough to keep children
drug-free hroughout middle and high school.

"Is it more effective than what a good teacher would do? I don't think so,"
Moyer said. "It reinforces what we do."

But Carl Goodard, a Salem Police officer assigned to teach DARE, believes n
the programs ambitions.

"I can't say whether it's going to put a stop to kids using drugs, but t's
a start," Goodard said. As long as we can be in the classrooms teaching
DARE, why yank out a tool that the kids enjoy and the teachers enjoy?"
Goodard said he even offers to spend time one-on-one with students who need
advice about something in their lives.

Checked-by: Richard Lake