TEEN VIEW: DARE GETS POOR RESULTS IN SCHOOLS

I think every student remembers the letters DARE, but can they remember
what they mean? In the past few months before school was out, talk started
about cutting the DARE program. I personally didn't have a problem with
that because I don't think it works. Before everybody starts getting angry,
listen to what I have to say.

I think people, especially parents, don't understand what their children
see every day. In high school is where I have seen the most drug use on a
daily basis. The same people who are using the drugs were in the same DARE
program that I was in. That leads me to believe it doesn't necessarily work.

I have chosen to not take drugs because I think they're nothing but stupid.
Why would I want to take something that's going to make me not be myself?
That's a decision I have made on my own, and no program helped me come to
that conclusion. In all reality, the choice to use drugs is a personal one.

I have friends who use or have tried drugs, and it doesn't make it any more
appealing to me. Their decision to use drugs and the consequences were all
on the individual.

DARE, just like sex education classes, only provides minimal information.
Corny videos and T-shirts aren't going to help today's children in the real
world. They are exposed to real problems and situations involving drugs.

If we want to decrease the drug problem among young people, we have to be
real about it. A program isn't necessarily going to achieve that goal if it
doesn't show or target the big picture. The videos we saw in the class made
it seem like the people doing drugs fit a certain stereotype. The main
thing I have learned on my own is that drug users don't look like just one
type of person. They range from the supposed goody goodies to the athletes
to the people you would expect.

If the DARE program is kept, I think some definite changes need to be made.
The world has changed since I was in elementary school, and the school
system needs to accept those changes.

Teen View columnist Alana Kirk is a rising senior at T.W. Andrews High
School. She can be contacted at Blue1491@hotmail.com