DARE Makes A Differnce

As a parent of two elementary school students, I cannot agree with the Teen
View column June 12 in the Enterprise assessing the DARE program as
outdated and unhelpful. Just because the writer sees students around her
using drugs does not mean that other students weren't influenced to not use
drugs. Also, there is no way to accurately measure influence. The writer
thinks that every choice she makes is hers personally and implies outside
influences have no bearing on her choices or lifestyle. Outside influences
are often immeasurable.

I'm glad my children are being influenced by the men and women of our
police force and those corny videos and T-shirts. Every time I hang up that
T-shirt out of the laundry, I say a prayer of thanks for the DARE and CARE
programs. My children talk about the program without prompting from me,
even after the fact.

What has even been more influential in the lives of my children is the
relationship formed with the officer (Officer Britt) who taught them the
CARE program. Victims of abuse often find it easier to talk to someone
outside their family. This is not the way we wish things were, this is not
the way things should be, but it is often a reality. Sometimes the victims
are abused by their family; then whom can they talk to? Sometimes student
drug users have access and use drugs because their parents do.

If the DARE or CARE program provides even one child with that key
relationship that helps them get out of an abusive situation, or if it
helps prosecute a case of abuse, it is worth it. There is no way to measure
that. In a time when many of our educational programs are being threatened
because of financial strain, I don't want the message going out that these
programs aren't viable or influential.

NANCY LE, Ladford Lane