D.A.R.E.'S EFFECTIVENESS NOT BORNE OUT BY HISTORY

I have no doubt Elkhart County Patrolman and D.A.R.E. educator Craig
Polachek is one heck of a nice guy ("Friendly message finds favor,"
feature story, March 5). There is no question that kids love him.
The fact that D.A.R.E. is wildly popular with parents and staff at
Ox Bow Elementary School is beyond dispute. Teenage drug abuse in
Elkhart has remained stubbornly high for years; Polachek admits as
much. The Truth's recent puff piece on D.A.R.E. makes all of that very clear.

And just as clearly it points to the fundamental flaw of D.A.R.E.
D.A.R.E. is a feel-good program that, after 25 years, has never had
any impact in reducing rates of teenage substance abuse, not in
Elkhart or anywhere else.

There is a reason the U.S. Department of Education stopped funding
D.A.R.E. years ago. There is a reason school districts all over the
U.S. are dropping D.A.R.E. and replacing it with substance abuse
prevention programs that have proven effective. And I suspect there
is also a reason Officer Polachek prefers spending his days hanging
around elementary schools surrounded by adoring children rather than
out in a patrol car facing down the real criminals.

Keeping our children safe from the scourge of substance abuse is too
important to just gloss over uncomfortable facts with pep rallies,
silly songs and feel-good platitudes. When it comes to D.A.R.E., the
uncomfortable fact is the emperor wears no clothes. Every dollar
spent on D.A.R.E. and every classroom hour is a dollar and an hour
lost to programs that have proven to effective.

GREG FRANCISCO

Paw Paw, Mich.