NORTH PLATTE DARE PROGRAM CONTINUES 16 YEARS LATER

When it comes to making good choices, sometimes education can make
all the difference. That is why the North Platte Police Department
has been conducting Drug Abuse Resistance Education classes in local
schools since 1990.

D.A.R.E. is an international program that will reach 36 million
school children this year - 26 million in the United States alone.

Rather than teach kids to "Just Say No" to drugs and alcohol, the
D.A.R.E. program teaches kids how to deal with peer pressure and
personal temptation, according to crime prevention officer Troy Erickson.

"We try to teach them how to respond to situations," said Erickson,
who is one of the local D.A.R.E. instructors.

The program was founded in 1983 in Los Angeles and has proven so
successful that it is now being implemented in nearly 80 percent of
American school districts and in more than 54 countries around the world.

The highly acclaimed D.A.R.E. program is a series of classroom
lessons led by police officers that teach children how to resist
peer pressure and to live productive drug-free and violence-free lives.

Erickson is working with about 300 fifth-graders in all of the North
Platte elementary schools.

According to Erickson, the program starts with teaching kids about
the D.A.R.E. decision-making model to help them learn how to make
good choices in difficult situations.

In this case, D.A.R.E. stands for Define, Assess, Respond and
Evaluate. Erickson said the assessment portion of the
decision-making model challenges students to come up with three
choices on how to respond to a situation.

After learning about decision-making, students are then tested on
their knowledge of drug abuse. While the perception is that
"everybody does it," Erickson said just the opposite is true.

"We try to stress that most of the kids don't smoke," Erickson said.

He added the D.A.R.E. program tends to focus on what he calls
"gateway drugs" such as alcohol, tobacco, marijuana and inhalants.
These are the drugs that most kids experiment with which can lead to
more serious addictions.

Other topics covered in the D.A.R.E. curriculum include defining
what makes a good friend, how to respond to peer pressure and how to
get out and stay out of risky situations.

During the nine-week program, students are provided a D.A.R.E.
planner. At the end of the program, each student is asked to write a
D.A.R.E. report about what they have learned.

After completing the classroom lessons, students are asked to make a
pledge to make wise decisions regarding alcohol and drugs. Students
then receive a D.A.R.E. T-shirt during a special graduation ceremony.

Erickson said he works with fifth-graders because he wants catch
them early to help prepare them for the transition to middle school
where peer pressure increases significantly.

However, this is not the only age group involved in D.A.R.E. Officer
Tim Dowhower, also a D.A.R.E. instructor, completed the program with
210 local seventh-graders in the first semester of the current school year.

Prior to entering the D.A.R.E. program, officers undergo 80 hours of
special training in areas such as child development, classroom
management, teaching techniques and communication skills.

So what do the students think of the D.A.R.E. program?

"They seem to really respond to it," Erickson said. He added kids
often approach their D.A.R.E. instructors years later with comments
about how much they liked the program and how much they remember the
lessons they learned.

A study published by the Journal of the National Medical Association
in 2002 showed that the D.A.R.E. curriculum is highly effective in
the prevention of smoking among elementary school-aged children.

The study found that students who completed the D.A.R.E. program
were five times less likely to start smoking compared to youngsters
who did not participate in the program.

Researchers also found a correlation between knowledge regarding the
risks of smoking and increased rates of smoking avoidance. The
D.A.R.E. students had a significantly higher knowledge score
regarding the risk of smoking.

To help reinforce the concepts taught in the D.A.R.E. program, the
police department also sponsors an annual D.A.R.E. Day for graduates
of the program. The daylong event includes games, prizes free food
and special activities.

While the materials used in the D.A.R.E. program are paid for by the
city, Erickson said the T-shirts and D.A.R.E. Day are privately
funded. Those wishing to contribute can contact Erickson at 535-6789
for more information.