SOME QUESTION DARE'S EFFECTIVENESS WITH YOUNGSTERS

Fifth-grade students at Marietta City Schools will go through the DARE
program this year after all.

But discussion remains about the program's effectiveness, much of which
centers around only offering the program to elementary school students.

In an answer to those discussions, City Council introduced legislation at
Thursday's council meeting to keep the almost $6,304 in funding for the
program.

The change in fortunes comes from an agreement between the Marietta Police
Department and the Washington County Sheriff's Office.

The DARE officer from the sheriff's office will take over the program for
city schools this year. Next year the city's new DARE officer, Pat Gragan,
will help the sheriff's office.

"It's too important for the community to not keep the program front and
center," said Marietta Mayor Michael Mullen.

It was announced in a City Council committee meeting last week that
Marietta City Schools would not be able to offer the drug education program
this school year.

Since then, concern over the possible loss of the Marietta DARE program has
run the gamut for Marietta's citizens.

Residents, parents, City Council members, teachers and police officers are
among those who have spoken up about the loss of the drug education
program. The crux of the discussion centers around whether the program is
effective and whether city officials should resume the program under the
same curriculum for next year.

The first council member to question the program's effectiveness was
Councilman Mike McCauley.

"They have tracked the DARE program and they found ... in lower grades it
does not significantly affect drug use," McCauley said.

The Marietta program was being dropped because former DARE Officer Ralph
Newell stepped down for personal reasons and there was a manpower shortage
in the police department, said Marietta Police Chief Brett McKitrick.

While McCauley did not completely suggest the program wasn't needed, he did
say follow-ups were necessary through junior high and possibly even high
school for full effectiveness.

Adding credence to McCauley's suggestion is a recent University of Akron
study on the effectiveness of the DARE program.

The study targets students in seventh and ninth grades instead of fifth and
sixth grades like many programs across the nation.

That age group was selected because national surveys show the use of
tobacco, alcohol, inhalants and illicit drugs jumps 150 percent to 200
percent between grades eight and 10.

Only in its first year, the study has seen positive results and found
flexible interaction with students was the key to preventing drug use.

"Without follow-up, statistics show it does not have an (influence),"
McCauley said in the Feb. 12 committee meeting.

With the joining of officers for the DARE program, Marietta City Schools
will get a chance to update the curriculum, much like the Washington County
Sheriff's Office did this year to incorporate some of the findings from the
University of Akron study.

The updates to the curriculum will also take the DARE program into Marietta
Middle School and Marietta High School in the near future.

Bonnie Weber, a fifth-grade teacher at Warren Elementary, said she and her
students would be lost without the program.

"This program enlightens and brings so much more to the curriculum," she
said. "They see him (the sheriff's officer) as a human being."

At the elementary school Thursday, sheriff's Deputy Craig Brockmeier
stopped by the school to check in with his DARE students.

While changing classes three or four students greeted Brockmeier in the
hall with hugs, smiles or handshakes.

"We call them young adults," Brockmeier said. "We make fun of each other
and we laugh."

Fifth-grader Greg Morrow, 10, said that was one of the lessons he learned
from the program.

"I learned not to judge a deputy when he walks in the room because I
thought it'd be boring," Morrow said.

On the other side of the discussion from McCauley is one of council's
staunchest supporters, Sam Gwinn, chair of the police and fire committee.

Gwinn said the area's ever-growing drug problem is proof the program is needed.

"We have more than had our share of young people die from overdose in this
city," Gwinn said. "That bothers me."

Since Christmas 2003 there have been one confirmed drug overdose death and
two more suspected of an overdose.

In Washington County there were 13 deaths between May 2001 and August 2002
attributed to heroin/opioid. And 52 nonfatal related overdoses were
reported in the county between May and August 2002, with 15 occurring in a
two-week period.

While some may point to the drug incidents in Marietta as proof that the
DARE program doesn't work, Marietta resident and grandparent Shirley
Stotler disagrees.

"It shook me up when I heard about it," Stotler, 62, of 300 Starlite Drive,
said about the recent reports of possible drug overdoses.

"There's not so much you can do to keep them away from it. That's why
you've got to get it in their heads now."

McKitrick said while detractors may have an easy time pointing out the
so-called failures of the program, it can be hard to quantify the successes.

"Is everybody that doesn't do drugs a success? One of the things I like
about the DARE officer is it's a positive role model meeting (kids) in a
friendly environment," McKitrick said.

What is DARE?

DARE, or Drug Abuse Resistance Education, is a police officer-led series of
classroom lessons that teaches children from kindergarten through 12th
grade how to resist peer pressure and live productive drug and
violence-free lives.

Nearly 36 million school children around the world, 26 million in the U.S.
and 300 in Marietta benefit from the 21-year-old program each year.

Nearly 80 percent of all school districts in the nation and more than 54
countries around the world offer the program.

Source: The official DARE Web site, www.dare.com.