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Anti-drug program dares to change
By Fred Kight
April 6,2014
This is not your father's D.A.R.E. program.
The Drug Abuse Resistance Education program being presented in Athens schools these days is different from the one taught more than 20 years ago when it was first offered here. The old "don't do dope" message is no longer a part of the program.
"The only drugs that we talk about are alcohol and tobacco," said Athens Police officer Rick Crossen, the current and long-time local D.A.R.E. officer.
APD Capt. Dave Williams - who's now retired - was the first D.A.R.E. officer when the program began in Athens in 1988. He was in the first class of law-enforcement personnel in the state taught how to teach the D.A.R.E. program, and his teachers were members of the police department in Los Angeles, where the anti-drug program originated in 1983.
"The concentration was about the drug problem and included police and children interacting in a positive manner," said Williams. "We taught the classes but also ate lunch with the children and played on the playground with them."
Williams taught D.A.R.E. for three years, and the emphasis "was strictly on the drug problems and how the kids can make sound decisions without being pressured into usage," he said.
Williams recalls that then-First Lady Nancy Reagan had her "Just Say No" program, "and I can remember having 'Just Say No' teen dances at the same time we had D.A.R.E. lessons in the school."
"When I held our first graduation (in 1989) at Chauncey Elementary School, we were the first class of school kids in the State of Ohio to graduate from a D.A.R.E. class," recalled Williams. "The Attorney General even attended the event."
Crossen added, "The key phrase for D.A.R.E. when it first started was "To Keep Kids off Drugs." In 1994, that was changed to "To Resist Drugs and Violence."
"They added information on how to resolve conflicts and staying away from gangs," said Crossen. "The curriculum was 17 lessons long."
A third version of the program was implemented in 2003, and in 2012 it was updated again. The 2012 change included a new motto - "D.A.R.E. Keepin' it REAL; Be Safe and Responsible."
"Just like any curriculum in the schools there needs to be change to keep up with the changes in the world and the change in approaches," explained Crossen, who noted the program now has 10 lessons instead of 17. The smaller number "made it more manageable to get these lessons in and include the other age groups," he said.
The main D.A.R.E. program in Athens now is for the sixth grade. There are also some "intro lessons" taught in the second and fourth grades, "a two-lesson supplemental D.A.R.E. program" on prescription and over-the-counter drugs for fifth-graders, and "a final visit with five lessons with the eighth-graders."
"The main focus is no longer about drugs, but about learning to make good decisions in life, in every area, and learning to be safe and responsible," said Crossen. "A decision-making model is introduced to the students (Define, Assess, Respond, Evaluate), and each lesson builds on the other, in what they call a 'scaffolding process.'"
Students are given real-life scenarios to discuss, and they use the model to decide the right way to act. "The children will read the situation and discuss the problem, and then will think of all the possible ways to handle the situation and also the consequences that may come about due to the possible decision," said Crossen.
The idea is that children will make better choices if they learn to think their way through the problem. The lessons also cover bullying, which, "has become a major concern in schools," according to Crossen.
THE LESSONS ARE DESIGNED to help with another serious problem today - school violence. Williams said the approach is to "give the kids a set of skills on how to make their own positive decisions about the problems that they face."
The Athens City School District incurs no cost for D.A.R.E., and it's minimal for the City of Athens, thanks to a state grant of about $20,000 a year and funds from the Athens D.A.R.E. Foundation.
The Ohio Attorney General's Office pays "half of the time the D.A.R.E. officers are in their schools instructing the D.A.R.E. curriculum," said Kari Parsons, D.A.R.E. Ohio training director. Grants from the AG's Office "also paid for half the time new D.A.R.E. officers attended the two-week D.A.R.E. Officer Training."
The Athens D.A.R.E. Foundation provides $3,000 to $4,000 annually for items such as pens, pencils, stickers and graduation certificates.
Is it money well spent? Both Crossen and Williams maintain the answer is definitely yes.
"I'm not saying that D.A.R.E. is the only program that is effective, and that when a child finishes D.A.R.E. he or she will make perfect decisions," said Crossen, but "I believe the majority of the kids who leave the program truly believe in making the right decision…
"One of the biggest positive factors with D.A.R.E. is that… the kids get to meet a police officer and see him/her as a friend and not as a person who is there to arrest someone," he added.
Williams said that more than two decades after he was in the schools, he encounters former students, adults now with children of their own, who remember him as their D.A.R.E. officer and tell him they stayed away from drugs.
"It is a rewarding experience to me and reaffirms that the program does work," he said.
Williams and Crossen acknowledge that D.A.R.E. is not foolproof, pointing out that some kids are going to use drugs "no matter what." They also note that other kids with good family structure and support groups are at low risk for using.
It's the majority, "the kids in the middle," whom the two officers believe have the most to gain from D.A.R.E..
"Kids make their own decisions," Crossen said. "I can't force them to make the right decision. All I can do is educate and teach them."
Williams added, "I know there are some 'naysayers' out there, ready to dismantle the D.A.R.E. program, but from what I have seen over the years, it is effective, and kids really do listen to their police officer teachers, and have fun while learning from them."
http://www.athensnews.com/ohio/article-42128-anti-drug-program-dares-to-change.html
........................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Looks like it coming around more and more to harm reduction but I wouldn't be surprised if this program did very little to prevent kids from trying drugs.
By Fred Kight
April 6,2014
This is not your father's D.A.R.E. program.
The Drug Abuse Resistance Education program being presented in Athens schools these days is different from the one taught more than 20 years ago when it was first offered here. The old "don't do dope" message is no longer a part of the program.
"The only drugs that we talk about are alcohol and tobacco," said Athens Police officer Rick Crossen, the current and long-time local D.A.R.E. officer.
APD Capt. Dave Williams - who's now retired - was the first D.A.R.E. officer when the program began in Athens in 1988. He was in the first class of law-enforcement personnel in the state taught how to teach the D.A.R.E. program, and his teachers were members of the police department in Los Angeles, where the anti-drug program originated in 1983.
"The concentration was about the drug problem and included police and children interacting in a positive manner," said Williams. "We taught the classes but also ate lunch with the children and played on the playground with them."
Williams taught D.A.R.E. for three years, and the emphasis "was strictly on the drug problems and how the kids can make sound decisions without being pressured into usage," he said.
Williams recalls that then-First Lady Nancy Reagan had her "Just Say No" program, "and I can remember having 'Just Say No' teen dances at the same time we had D.A.R.E. lessons in the school."
"When I held our first graduation (in 1989) at Chauncey Elementary School, we were the first class of school kids in the State of Ohio to graduate from a D.A.R.E. class," recalled Williams. "The Attorney General even attended the event."
Crossen added, "The key phrase for D.A.R.E. when it first started was "To Keep Kids off Drugs." In 1994, that was changed to "To Resist Drugs and Violence."
"They added information on how to resolve conflicts and staying away from gangs," said Crossen. "The curriculum was 17 lessons long."
A third version of the program was implemented in 2003, and in 2012 it was updated again. The 2012 change included a new motto - "D.A.R.E. Keepin' it REAL; Be Safe and Responsible."
"Just like any curriculum in the schools there needs to be change to keep up with the changes in the world and the change in approaches," explained Crossen, who noted the program now has 10 lessons instead of 17. The smaller number "made it more manageable to get these lessons in and include the other age groups," he said.
The main D.A.R.E. program in Athens now is for the sixth grade. There are also some "intro lessons" taught in the second and fourth grades, "a two-lesson supplemental D.A.R.E. program" on prescription and over-the-counter drugs for fifth-graders, and "a final visit with five lessons with the eighth-graders."
"The main focus is no longer about drugs, but about learning to make good decisions in life, in every area, and learning to be safe and responsible," said Crossen. "A decision-making model is introduced to the students (Define, Assess, Respond, Evaluate), and each lesson builds on the other, in what they call a 'scaffolding process.'"
Students are given real-life scenarios to discuss, and they use the model to decide the right way to act. "The children will read the situation and discuss the problem, and then will think of all the possible ways to handle the situation and also the consequences that may come about due to the possible decision," said Crossen.
The idea is that children will make better choices if they learn to think their way through the problem. The lessons also cover bullying, which, "has become a major concern in schools," according to Crossen.
THE LESSONS ARE DESIGNED to help with another serious problem today - school violence. Williams said the approach is to "give the kids a set of skills on how to make their own positive decisions about the problems that they face."
The Athens City School District incurs no cost for D.A.R.E., and it's minimal for the City of Athens, thanks to a state grant of about $20,000 a year and funds from the Athens D.A.R.E. Foundation.
The Ohio Attorney General's Office pays "half of the time the D.A.R.E. officers are in their schools instructing the D.A.R.E. curriculum," said Kari Parsons, D.A.R.E. Ohio training director. Grants from the AG's Office "also paid for half the time new D.A.R.E. officers attended the two-week D.A.R.E. Officer Training."
The Athens D.A.R.E. Foundation provides $3,000 to $4,000 annually for items such as pens, pencils, stickers and graduation certificates.
Is it money well spent? Both Crossen and Williams maintain the answer is definitely yes.
"I'm not saying that D.A.R.E. is the only program that is effective, and that when a child finishes D.A.R.E. he or she will make perfect decisions," said Crossen, but "I believe the majority of the kids who leave the program truly believe in making the right decision…
"One of the biggest positive factors with D.A.R.E. is that… the kids get to meet a police officer and see him/her as a friend and not as a person who is there to arrest someone," he added.
Williams said that more than two decades after he was in the schools, he encounters former students, adults now with children of their own, who remember him as their D.A.R.E. officer and tell him they stayed away from drugs.
"It is a rewarding experience to me and reaffirms that the program does work," he said.
Williams and Crossen acknowledge that D.A.R.E. is not foolproof, pointing out that some kids are going to use drugs "no matter what." They also note that other kids with good family structure and support groups are at low risk for using.
It's the majority, "the kids in the middle," whom the two officers believe have the most to gain from D.A.R.E..
"Kids make their own decisions," Crossen said. "I can't force them to make the right decision. All I can do is educate and teach them."
Williams added, "I know there are some 'naysayers' out there, ready to dismantle the D.A.R.E. program, but from what I have seen over the years, it is effective, and kids really do listen to their police officer teachers, and have fun while learning from them."
http://www.athensnews.com/ohio/article-42128-anti-drug-program-dares-to-change.html
........................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Looks like it coming around more and more to harm reduction but I wouldn't be surprised if this program did very little to prevent kids from trying drugs.
