AIKEN SHERIFF VOWS TO KEEP DRUG PROGRAM

CLEARWATER - Although Drug Abuse Resistance Education doesn't enjoy the
near-universal support it once had, the youth education program isn't going
anywhere on Aiken County Sheriff Michael Hunt's watch.

"We're committed to it, and we're ready to go for next year," Sheriff Hunt
said of the program, commonly known as DARE.

The newly elected sheriff was a guest Tuesday at Clearwater Elementary
School, where he spoke to more than 60 fifth-graders and their parents at
the school's DARE graduation. Afterward, he talked about why he wanted to
keep the program - which is not without its critics - in Aiken County's 14
public elementary schools.

"We have evaluated our program, and the parents and teachers made it clear
they want it to continue," Sheriff Hunt said. "I think it plays an
important role in helping kids build relationships with law enforcement, as
well as teaching them about the dangers of drugs."

DARE has taken some hits in academic circles ever since a long-range
University of Kentucky study of 2,000 DARE pupils found the program had few
lasting effects a decade later. Some educators have worried the 17 weeks of
weekly, hourlong classes eat into instruction time.

The program can also stretch officer resources, one of the reasons the
Aiken Department of Public Safety quit teaching DARE two years ago,
replacing it with its own curriculum, Youth and Public Safety.

"DARE is pretty rigid in the curriculum you must follow," Aiken Public
Safety Capt. Wendell Hall said. "Youth and Public Safety allows us to
address a lot of different kinds of issues."

Clearwater Elementary Principal Susan Malcom said she has heard the
criticism of DARE and knows how valuable classroom instruction time is in
an era of increasing pressure for pupils to perform on standardized tests.

"I still think it's a good program," Ms. Malcom said. "Anyone else who can
come in and be a role model for students is a good thing. I hear them
repeating things they've heard in DARE. However, home influence is also
very important."

The sheriff said that beyond the salaries of Deputies Debbie Rodgers and
Don Henry to teach the course, the costs of DARE are minimal. Course
materials are provided by the state Criminal Justice Academy, and volunteer
fire departments and area businesses pitch in for rewards such as the
T-shirts that were passed out to pupils Tuesday.