D.A.R.E. MEETING FOCUSES ON NEW CURRICULUM

Anti-Drug Program Puts More Emphasis on Decision-Making

The centerpiece for the Kentucky D.A.R.E. Association's annual in-service
training this week at the Executive Inn Rivermont is the first change in
the D.A.R.E. curriculum since 1994.

"The major change is the focus is now on decision-making skills," said
Bruce Olin, the state D.A.R.E. coordinator and a Kentucky State Police
trooper. "You teach a child to make good decisions and give them a process
to follow. It's a learned trait."

About 100 law-enforcement officers representing city, county and state
agencies from all across Kentucky are attending the conference through
Thursday.

D.A.R.E., or Drug Abuse Resistance Education, was created by police
officers in Los Angeles in 1983 to teach fifth-graders about the dangers of
drugs.

Decision-making skills have always been a part of the curriculum, Olin
said, but in the past self-esteem was a main focus.

"Through research we've learned that decision making is what it comes down
to," he said.

"Self-esteem issues have nothing to do with why kids use drugs," Olin said.
"Research has made pretty clear that that is not a factor."

Workshops at the three-day event include meth and the effects of drugs on
the adolescent.

Gary Campbell, D.A.R.E. coordinator for McLean County, said he is eager to
find out more about the curriculum change.

"That's the main thing everyone is looking forward to," Campbell said.
"We'll be learning about those changes over the next couple of days, and
we'll take those changes and implement them in our D.A.R.E. class this fall."

Campbell, of the Livermore Police Department, said he works with an average
of 110 to 130 fifth-graders a year at three schools.

"That's the age when the pressure starts to come for them to experiment
with drugs," he said.

The new curriculum will be more focused and will include 10 classroom
lesson plans instead of the 17 of years past.

Sgt. Eddie Miller, the Daviess County coordinator, said he began organizing
for the event four months ago.

"We feel very fortunate and honored that we were selected to host this
year's training," Miller said. "It takes a lot of hard work. The whole
crime prevention unit has been instrumental."

Van Berry, a Lexington police officer who has been involved with D.A.R.E
for more than 15 years, said it is important to have the most up-to-date
and best information to keep children drug and violence free.

"They are our future," Berry said. "Protecting our future is what we're
trying to do."