NO SURPRISE DARE'S FALLING OUT OF FAVOR

DARE seems such a nifty program. It brings cops into classrooms to rap with
kids about the ills of drugs. It's popular among schools around the state
and the nation.

There's just one problem: It doesn't work. And that's too bad.

A Shorewood School Board committee is urging that district to scrap DARE
(Drug Abuse Resistance Education) and to put in its stead a more promising
anti-drug program -- a reasonable decision. After all, study after study
shows that DARE fails to curtail drug use.

In fact, horribly, it may even boomerang, encouraging some suburban kids to
do dope, recent research suggests.

A few other area school districts are thinking about following Shorewood's
lead, though Waukesha County District Attorney Paul Bucher, as well as many
law officers, stand solidly behind DARE.

The program is certainly a laudable effort. There's some faint evidence
that it may work if it's supported by other programs in later grades; DARE
targets fifth, sixth and seventh grades.

But to meet demands for accountability, schools generally are becoming more
results-oriented -- and rightly so. A curriculum not shown to work should
be discarded. To deserve to survive, DARE must prove its worth.

The program does have some visible value. It builds rapport between police
officers and children. But other, better roads may reach that destination.

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)