DARE TO SAY NO

Local students participate in anti-drug program

"I promise to never use drugs," was the pledge each fifth grader at Benton
Middle School made as each of them read aloud what the D.A.R.E. program
means to them. More than 20,000 Bossier Parish fifth grade students have
been through the program since it began in the school system, and DARE
instructor Judy Pate says she takes her job as their instructor very seriously.

"This program has been very successful in teaching these students to choose
their friends wisely and avoid peer pressure," Pate said. "It is my job to
make sure these students know the seriousness and consequences of using
drugs and alcohol. When I hear one of the students read about how much they
appreciate Miss Pate, that means a lot. But it also means a lot to hear
some past students when they come up to me and say that they were in a
situation where there were drugs and or alcohol and they remembered what
they learned in DARE."

Pate explained that the program's main teaching tool is called "The
Decision Making Model," which uses the letters D.A.R.E. to teach the
curriculum.

D - Define -What is the problem, challenge or opportunity that you are
faced with. A - Access - What are my choices R - Respond - Make a choice,
use the facts and information you have gathered. E - Evaluate - Review your
decision. Did you make a good choice?

D.A.R.E. is currently in 75 percent of school districts nationwide.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse's Monitoring the Future
study, teenage drug use continues to fall, decreasing 19 percent during the
past four years.

Before being allowed to teach D.A.R.E., a police officer must successfully
complete 80 hours of intensive training. Unfortunately, not all police
officers who begin the training complete it. The foundation of the D.A.R.E.
curricula includes science-based principles of prevention, as well as
age-appropriate reading material.

Since 1997 there have been 18 studies conducted on D.A.R.E. showing
positive results. The most eye-opening study was published by the Journal
of the National Medical Association showing that D.A.R.E graduates are five
times less likely to begin smoking than non-D.A.R.E. graduates are.

"Sometimes my students come in and tell me that their parents smoke," Pate
said. "I tell them that their parents are adults and when they grow up if
they chose to smoke it will be their choice. I hope they never start."

Pate said many times the parents approach her to say that they quit smoking
as a result of their child telling them what they learned in D.A.R.E.

"That always makes me feel good," she said. "When the parent quits smoking
it breaks that cycle and the chances of the child starting are less than
before."