REVAMPED D.A.R.E. RESULTS PROMISING

Local D.A.R.E. police officers said they are pleased to learn of the latest
study of the anti-drug and alcohol program, which demonstrates promising
results with children.

Researchers at the Institute for Health and Social Policy at the University
of Akron studied about 15,500 seventh-graders, some of whom took part in
the program's updated curriculum and others, in a control group, who
didn't. They plan to follow the students until their junior years in high
school.

The researchers found that seventh-graders with the updated program were
more likely to find using drugs socially inappropriate, were better at
refusing drugs and had fewer misconceptions about how many of their peers
use drugs. They were also less likely to say they would use inhalants.

The program has been updated since critics in recent years said the program
was ineffective in keeping kids away from drugs and alcohol.

The effectiveness of the program has never been a question for Owensboro
Police Department Officer Eddie Miller, who is in his 13th year as the
city's D.A.R.E. officer.

Daviess County Sheriff's Deputy Scott Wedding fields questions from Burns
Elementary School fifth-graders Tuesday during his second lesson discussing
tobacco awareness for the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program. Photo by
John Dunham, M-I

"To know how effective a program is, you have to wait until they're out of
school and in the adult world," Miller said.

Children who were in Miller's first few classes have graduated from high
school. He occasionally talks with them when he sees them in the community.
Many can still remember things they learned in the classes, he said.

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.

Like any 19-year-old program, the curriculum in schools today must be
updated and evolve to meet current needs, Miller said.

A study last August by the University of North Carolina found that several
top anti-drug programs, including the original version of D.A.R.E., were
either ineffective or hadn't been sufficiently tested.

Other researchers have found that illegal drug use among teenagers has
remained level or decreased over the past several years, partly because
adults are warning students about drug use and encouraging kids to nurture
other interests.

Following those studies, the D.A.R.E. program has tried to update the
curriculum and teaching style, Miller said.

"I believe that what they've done is that they've taken a good program and
made it even better," Miller said. "Instead of getting up there and
lecturing for 45 minutes, it's more of a discussion."

Miller has completed the first phase of the updated training, and two
deputies with the Daviess County Sheriff's Department plan to learn new
teaching styles during a conference this summer.

The new D.A.R.E. curriculum will target students not only in fifth grade,
but also in seventh and ninth grades. Teachers will also help teach
lessons, unlike the current program, which is taught mostly by police officers.

The benefit of D.A.R.E. is not just teaching children about the dangers of
drugs and alcohol, said Deputy Scott Wedding, a D.A.R.E. officer. Children
become comfortable around police officers, and they learn about the
consequences of drugs from officers who encounter them daily, he said.

"In their lives it's going to be their choice, their decision," Wedding
said. "All we do is equip them with the tools. At least they are educated
to all the different consequences of these drugs."

D.A.R.E.'s success depends heavily on dedicated officers, which the city
and county have, he said.

Deputy Kelly Payne, the department's other D.A.R.E. officer, said she and
Wedding offer the program at each county elementary and middle school.

Last year the department reached seventh-graders as well, but scheduling
conflicts required them to cut back to kindergarten through sixth grade,
she said. She hopes to regain the seventh-graders by next year.

"I hated to lose the seventh-grade programs," Payne said. "We think it's
really effective."

The Associated Press contributed to this article.