OFFICIALS SAY D.A.R.E WORKS IN ST. CLAIR COUNTY

ST. CLAIR COUNTY - Until recently, D.A.R.E. officers only worried
about the battle against drug use among young people. Now they are
faced with funding cuts and negative publicity. With all the bad press
about D.A.R.E. and its alleged ineffectiveness, officers are hoping
officials will pay more attention to positive results in their own
communities.

Several noted and published studies claim to have proven that the
long- and short-term effect of the D.A.R.E. program is little to none.

According to a study published in the Journal of Consulting and
Clinical Psychology titled "Project D.A.R.E.: No Effects at 10-year
Follow-up," "the widespread popularity of D.A.R.E. is especially
noteworthy, given the lack of evidence for its efficacy. Although few
long-term studies have been conducted, the preponderance of evidence
suggests that D.A.R.E. has no long-term effect on drug use."

Despite the reports of these negative findings cities across the
nation are still finding it in their budgets to fund the program. St.
Clair County is no different.

Does D.A.R.E. work?

St. Clair County D.A.R.E. officer Deputy Donnie Howell has been
teaching the D.A.R.E. program since its beginning in St. Clair County
nearly 13 years ago. In his tenure he has seen the program grow and
change as the issues facing young people have changed.

"There are supposedly studies that show the program does not work,"
Howell said. "But there are just as many that show it does work."
Howell, who conducted a survey of his own about the effectiveness of
the program, said the percentages show the program works for St. Clair
County students.

Howell surveyed his fifth-grade students about their attitudes toward
illegal drug use and found that 90 percent overall already had a
negative attitude about using drugs.

"That's a pretty good number to start with," he said. "It shows that
most of these kids already have a preconceived notion that drugs are
bad."

Howell surveyed these same students in the seventh grade and said
there may have been only a 1 percent increase in that number, but the
scores of young people who are considered "at-risk" changed their
scores dramatically.

"After surveying these kids again in the seventh grade, at-risk
students raised their numbers by around 14 percent," Howell said.
"Fourteen percent more of these kids now have a more negative attitude
about illegal drug use."

Howell said that contrary to popular belief, the D.A.R.E. curriculum
is not just about saying no to drugs. The program focuses on teaching
students how to handle peer pressure and conflicts, and it also
addresses safety issues. D.A.R.E. is taught during the fifth grade in
all county schools

"The curriculum is designed to give good decision-making skills. What
makes it unique is that it is taught by police officers," Howell said.
"It is a great part of any department's community policing effort and
it fosters a much better relationship between kids, parents and law
enforcement."

Pell City Police Chief, and former D.A.R.E. officer, Greg Turley
agreed with Howell, saying that only a small part of the course
actually focuses on drug use.

"Saying no is only one 45-minute class out of a long program," Turley
said. "In kindergarten through fourth grade we also discuss safety
issues and grades five through six get the full curriculum."

Turley said the Pell City Police Department continues its D.A.R.E.
instruction into the seventh and ninth grades where students have
questions about the law and their rights.

"In the high school program students are taught the law and how it
affects them," Howell said. 'They find out that they can get into
trouble doing some of the things they thought were harmless. It tends
to dispel a lot of erroneous information they have received in the
past."

Funding

"After Sept. 11, a lot of the D.A.R.E. and social programs' funding
was diverted to Homeland Security," Howell said. "The grants for
D.A.R.E. are not there anymore and small departments are having to cut
the program."

The St. Clair County program in five schools is funded through the
Sheriff's Department budget, the County Commission and private donations.

The Pell City program still receives a small grant each year, but
funding is also a line-item in the Police Department's annual budget.
Funding is also provided through the Pell City D.A.R.E. Board Inc., of
which Assistant District Attorney Richard Minor is chairman.

"Other agencies are hoping to get the funding that is cut from
D.A.R.E.," Howell said. "D.A.R.E. is not meant to replace any other
social programs or school counseling. Its purpose is to work with
other programs for what is best for our young people."

Getting results

"D.A.R.E. is not meant to replace any program nor is it a silver
bullet," Turley said. "But anything you give these kids to put in
their tool belts to use in life will help them. How do you measure how
many kids didn't break into cars or didn't get pregnant because of the
program? You can't."

Howell and Turley stress that the lessons learned in the D.A.R.E.
program serve young people throughout their lives, not just through
school.

"I run into some of my D.A.R.E. students from time to time," Turley
said. "They still know my name and tell me they still have their workbooks."

Howell has even more impressive evidence that the D.A.R.E. program
works to teach more than how to say no to drugs. He has a letter that
shows the program teaches self-respect and courage above all else.

The letter, sent to Sheriff Terry Surles, is from a sixth-grade girl
who says she learned from Howell and the D.A.R.E. program to tell her
trusted person if something bad happens to her. She said that because
of D.A.R.E. she had the courage to tell her parents about a man doing
"bad things" to her.

"The man is now facing several indictments because other older girls
are coming forward, too," Howell said. "If this doesn't show that the
program works nothing does."

About Kellie L. Long Kellie Long is Editor of The St. Clair Times.