THE DARE PROGRAM SHOULD NOT BE CUT

Again, the first thing to go when a budget crunch hits is our children's
needs. The DARE Program is the best thing I have ever seen for children of
this age.

A fifth-grader is going to the next level of their education, and it is
scary and there is a lot of peer pressure. There can never be too many
mentors for a child of this age.

To be shown that it is all right to say no, to be different, and not to let
your buddies drag you down can be nothing but a good thing.

Having grown up in the '70s, the education about drugs and peer pressure is
immeasurable.

The speakers at these DARE graduations and the police officers who lead
these programs are to be commended.

Sometimes in the times we live in, this might be the only person who has
told this child it is OK to say no.

From my experience of having two children go through this program at
Brightwood Elementary, they took more away and enjoyed that graduation a
lot more than the real fifth grade graduation.

Any parent who has had a child that benefited from this program, or maybe
had a relative, or may have a future DARE graduate in your home, make your
feelings known now before the DARE program is just a memory.

We must not let them cut this program. There are too many other areas that
can be trimmed.

Our children are too important.

Jessica Whitehead, Ruffin