GOV. FOSTER MAKES BIG MISTAKE

There is an old saying that goes "it takes a village to raise a child." If
that is true, and I personally believe it is, then the state of Louisiana
is about to drop the ball - big time.

Last year the state budgeted $3.9 million for the DARE program to be used
from August 31 through May 1.

As of this May the funding had been cut back to zero.

What could be more important than our children? Apparently Governor Mike
Foster does not believe them to be a top priority.

The DARE program touches 370,115 students annually in Louisiana alone. I
have been thinking about this a lot since I first wrote a story last week
about the issue.

The state pays around $10 per year, per student for the DARE program
statewide. With local agencies and communities covering the majority of the
cost and not the state.

But the state pays over $21 a day to house a state prisoner--I said per
day! What's wrong with this picture?

Are we going to wait until our children get involved with drugs and become
another statistic, and then be willing to pay to have them housed in a
state prison?

I remember when my son Michael went through the DARE program at Shongaloo.
I became aware of much of the drug problems, at the same time he did by
reading the materials together, and listening to what he had learned from
the DARE officer at school.

When I was in the fifth grade we didn't have anything like the DARE
program. Back then we learned everything from television, our older
siblings (boy was I in trouble) and from our friends.

The state of Louisiana has progressed since the 1980s when I was in high
school, (very early 1980s), but now it seems that we are taking a giant
step backwards, and at what cost--our children literally are our most
valuable asset.

The children are our future, isn't that what we say? I mean we hear it
every day, Whitney Houston even sang about it--are we all lying, is it just
a catchy cliche, or do we really believe it? In my opinion, it's kind of
like the weather. People are always complaining about it, but nobody ever
does anything to change it. The weather is one thing, we know we can't do
anything about, but because we live in a democratic society that says if we
don't like the way things are being run, we can voice our opinions and make
the necessary changes.

This affects us all, even if your children are grown, or if you don't have
children of your own, or maybe you are a child yourself (you have a voice,
too) if you don't want to see the DARE program become a thing of the past
in our state, you better act fast, by contacting State Representative Jean
Doerge at 732 Main St. Minden, 71055.

As a resident of Louisiana it is our responsibility to do what we feel is
best for our Louisiana kids. If you don't think the DARE program works,
just talk to some of the officers who work with our children daily, Jerry
Moore, Sergeant Debbie Haynes, Lieutenant Keith Banta or Lieutenant Julie
Harman just to name a few. I am sure they would be happy to share some of
their experiences.

If you are not willing to help keep our state running smooth, don't
complain when it starts to fall apart.