DARE PART OF VALUABLE SYSTEM

I doubt the DARE program will suffer much in any debate arising from the
critical letter I published last week by Wayne Phillips of Hamilton,
Ontario.

The Drug Abuse Resistance Educations program is popular in the Fort
Saskatchewan region with police, students and community supporters. Common
sense says it is helpful to have police officers talk to youths about drug
abuse.

Nonetheless, common sense is not always correct, and it is quite possible
that Phillips is right. Studies may well be unable to find any reduction in
drug use by teens after DARE. I will even say it is likely this is true,
given the quality of sources cited by Phillips.

Despite this, I still see DARE as a valuable program.

DARE puts youths in contact with RCMP officers in a way few adults get to
enjoy. Thanks to DARE, most teens in Fort Saskatchewan and area can actually
boast having a friend at the RCMP detachment.

Good, solid, adult role models are important for teens.

Then there is the benefit to RCMP officers in having better connections to
Fort Saskatchewan's youth. DARE has to help improve police understanding of
local teens and youth crime.

DARE is part of a community policing effort in Fort Saskatchewan that is
second to none. Thanks to these programs, local police are part of the
community and the community is very much a part of the local police force.
Frankly, I don't care if this can be proven to fight drug abuse or not. It
makes for a better community.