D.A.R.E. GIVES STUDENTS ROLE MODELS, CONFIDENCE

When Christine Johnson's fifth-graders at Leon Sheffield Elementary School
started the D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program, they didn't
seem enthusiastic.

"They gave a lot of one-word answers (to questions Officer T.A. Burleson
asked)," Ms. Johnson said.

By the end of the 17-week program, students turned in long, detailed essays
about what they learned in the program.

"It provides them with an atmosphere where they feel comfortable asking
questions they wouldn't otherwise," Ms. Johnson said.

D.A.R.E., a program that started in Los Angeles in 1983, places police
officers in the classroom.

The officers talk to students about peer pressure and self-esteem and offer
them ways to say no to tobacco, alcohol, drugs, gangs and violence.

In Decatur, officers see students in third, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth
and 10th grades. In Morgan County, deputies work with students in fifth
grade. Police departments fund the program, but school systems help with
curriculum cost.

"I feel that the D.A.R.E. program has really made me understand how drugs
can harm people," wrote Leon Sheffield fifth-grader Amberly Devaney.

Officers explain the consequences of drugs and violence to students,
Decatur senior DARE officer Greg Cain said.

"Officer T.A. taught us stuff like, if you get busted selling drugs, you
can go to prison for about 10 years," Leon Sheffield fifth-grader Randy
Kyle wrote.

Students are often surprised by the repercussions they could face, Ms.
Johnson said.