"HOW DARE THEY DROP DARE"

Perhaps I lived a sheltered childhood and adolescence. or perhaps I
suffer from repression. the thing is, I simply do not recall being
daily inundated with information about drugs, let alone having easy
access to them, in elementary schools. While I was certainly aware
of the dark, gray cloud of cigarette smoke looming over a certain
corner outside my high school, drug abuse seemed a distant reality.
Only "losers" used. Granted my school years ended at the dawn of MTV
and well before the advent of the World Wide Web. And while I know
that negative and dangerous influences have always been around,
there were far fewer venues pushing them at me in childhood.

My little girl will not be as sheltered. There is no doubt in my
mind that she will hear about drugs early in life and from a number
of sources television, the internet, advertisements depicting
cocainethin and ragged models. From friends.

And so it was with mixed emotions that I took in the Snohomish county
sheriffs decision to pull out of the D.A.R.E. program. I want my child
to know the dangers and repercussions of choosing to do drugs. And I
want her to know that police officers are there to help her. With all
the pressures and hype surrounding kids today, I want my child, her
friends, and peers to feel befriended by authority a voice of reason
above the din of images that will bombard them. I want my daughter to
know without a doubt that drugs are wrong, they are illegal, they can
ruin her life.

Despite statistics about DARE's long term effects, I believe my
advice to my daughter will be strengthened by a sheriffs' echo. One
day, our combined efforts could become the little voice that whispers
"NO" when some drug pusher tells my daughter "YES".

The Snohomish Sheriffs pulled officers from the program because they
need more of them on the street. More and more people are moving into
the county, department officials say,which in turn has meant more
drugs in the community. And more violence.

It is ironic, that we must take officers from a program that
potentially reduces violence and drug abuse in order to combat
increasing levels of both in Snohomish County.

As the incoming editor of the Snohomish County Parent and the mother
of a two year old, I applaud the Sheriffs' decade long service to
Snohomish County children through DARE and mourn its loss.

I hope to hear from you as well about this program or other concerns,
issues, or story ideas you may have. It is through open dialog
that we better serve the children of this community.

CHERYL MURFIN BOND Editor


"Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one strand within it.
Anything we do to the web we do to ourselves all things are bound
together all things connect." CHIEF SEATTLE.