Fighting Back: Part 7b

DARE BRINGS DRUG EDUCATION INTO THE SCHOOLS

GULFPORT - Lt. Windy Swetman has taught hundreds of area school children
how to say "no" to drugs through DARE programs in Harrison County public
schools.

DARE, which stands for Drug Awareness Resistance Education, is a
school-based drug prevention program paid for by participating law
enforcement agencies. Only 26 of the state's 82 counties have DARE programs
in public schools, said Swetman.

The eight-year police veteran, who was named the state DARE Officer of the
Year in 2001, is community relations director for the Harrison County
Sheriff's Department. Swetman recently answered questions about the program
and how effective it is.

Q: DARE is perhaps best known for its catch-phrase, "Just say no to drugs."
To be effective, the program obviously has to involve more than a slogan.
How does the program work?

A: It's goal is not only to teach kids to say no, but also to teach them
about the dangers and ways to say no. The core program is a 16-week
curriculum with detailed lesson plans taught to fifth-grade students. We
also have a middle school program for seventh-graders, and we're the only
law enforcement agency in the state that has a high school program for
10th-graders. We also incorporate other resources because new drugs,
statistics and research are out there that didn't exist when the curriculum
was developed 19 years ago.

Q: Does that mean the program is outdated?

A: Not really. It's a good program. But our area is one of 22 in the nation
selected for a five-year pilot project to test a new DARE curriculum.

The kids we taught last year at D'Iberville, North Woolmarket and Pass
Christian middle schools are part of an experimental group. They will be
tracked for five years, with results compared to students in control groups
at Bayou View and Central middle schools in Gulfport and other schools with
the old curriculum. The information we get back each year and at the end of
the study will be invaluable, and each participating school receives $500 a
year from a private grant. The University of Akron received $13.7 million
from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to develop and test this new
curriculum. Of 82 counties in Mississippi, only 26 counties teach DARE
programs. If kids' only source of information is on the street, they aren't
getting the right information.

Q: Does DARE really make a difference in keeping kids away from drugs?

A: Absolutely. When you put an officer in a school, he's not just teaching
and leaving, but building a rapport with kids and handling problems that
affect our community every day. When we see our kids out in the community,
we know whether they're in the wrong place or up to no good. We hope their
respect for us will carry on to other law enforcement officers they may
come in contact with for whatever reason. But the bottom line is kids
remember their experiences from school. We educate them on the dangers of
what drugs do to them and how drugs can destroy their lives. What kind of
difference do you think it would make if we pulled out of the schools? Not
a good one, I assure you.

Q: What makes the new program different?

A: It is more interactive and thought-provoking, with an emphasis on giving
kids realistic situations and letting them practice decision making. We set
up a mock court trial in which students participate as judge, prosecutors
and defendants. They have to follow the law to argue cases and set
sentences. It makes a lasting impression that is more effective than
showing a video and telling them that drugs are bad.

Q: Critics of the DARE program in other areas of the nation have complained
that DARE officers have turned kids against their parents and encouraged
them to turn their parents in. Is there any truth to that?

A: I've never heard of law enforcement officers ever pulling children aside
and telling them to rat their parents out. But the old saying "out of the
mouths of babes" is true. Teachers will tell you that children often
volunteer information. While I was teaching one class last year about how
drinking beer can affect your balance and cause you to trip and fall, a boy
raised his hand and said his daddy had fallen in a ditch while drunk, and
his mother had to help get him out. It's not our goal to take everything
kids say and build cases. But law enforcement officers do have an
obligation and a duty to investigate. For instance, if a girl comes to us
and says she's being sexually abused, we're not going to ignore something
like that.