Is DARE program worth it?

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Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM

It was more like a pep rally than a graduation from a program to prevent drug use, with nearly 250 kids foot-stomping, cheering and whooping it up.

Even the assistant principal got into the act, dressed in a lion’s costume high-fiving kids and doing cartwheels across the gym floor.

The occasion for the celebration? A recent DARE graduation for fifth-graders at Chelsea Intermediate School in Frankfort, attended by parents and grandparents, and school and village officials.

After finishing the 10-week program, fifth-grader Kathryn Kolski said that when it comes to using illegal drugs, she and her classmates have learned how to not give in to peer pressure.

“We had the best instructors,” Kolski said. “We will know what to do.”

But across the Southland and the state, scenes like this are becoming the exception rather than the norm as budgets tighten and the program’s effectiveness remains in question. Only a few Southland police departments have continued offering the drug prevention program at schools after the state pulled the plug on funding it.

A few schools have replaced DARE — which stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education — with broader programs for all ages, such as Risk Watch or Character Counts, while some have nothing at all.

While participants remain enthusiastic, scientific reviews have been negative on the effectiveness of the DARE program, which started in Los Angeles in 1983.

A 2006 report by the U.S. Surgeon General on youth violence, for example, concluded that those who participate in DARE are just as likely to use drugs as those who don’t.

Khadija K. Swims, of Grand Valley State University, in Michigan, reviewed several studies on DARE and concluded the program is “ineffective” in preventing future drug, alcohol and tobacco use in adolescents. She noted that DARE has many ancillary benefits, such as positive relations with police, good decision-making skills and increased self-esteem, but those are not the drug-prevention program’s primary goals.

No matter how great a prevention program claims to be, “it will be impossible to prevent all teenagers from ever using alcohol, tobacco or drugs,” Swims concluded.

The results of such studies mean schools can’t spend federal money on DARE. Under rules that went into effect in 1998, the Department of Education requires agencies that receive federal money to prove within two years that their programs reduce drug use among students.

‘A big order’

DARE officials are aware of their critics.

“Everyone has their opinion,” said Dr. John Wyant, coordinator of DARE’s Illinois State Training Center. “In 10 lessons, it is hard to offset peer pressure and assume you can give students skills for the rest of their lives. That is a big order.”

The number of police departments conducting DARE programs is half of what it was six or seven years ago, Wyant said.

“Most agencies dropped it because of budget problems. No one dropped it because the schools and parents did not want it,” he said.

The DARE America website cited a recent study in the Journal of the National Medical Association that found that DARE graduates were five times less likely to start smoking than those who didn’t participate in DARE.Still, proponents of DARE acknowledge it is difficult to quantify the program’s success. But the relationships kids develop with police officers is invaluable, proponents say.

“When kids wave at us, we want them to use all their fingers,” Wyant said.

Richton Park Police Chief Elvia Yancey currently does not offer DARE to the schools but said in previous experiences with DARE, she found it to be an “effective tool in community policing.”

The bond that can develop between police and kids through DARE was on display among the crowd of Chelsea fifth-graders surrounding “awesome” and “cool” DARE Officers Mike Pazera and Don Walsh.

Some of the Southland police departments that do offer DARE — Frankfort, Oak Lawn, Orland Park, Mokena and Homewood — are very committed to it and found creative ways to finance it, officials say.

Oak Lawn Police Chief Bill Villanova used to work in the narcotics division and has seen firsthand the harm drug addictions can bring to users. His department has six trained officers conducting DARE and EDGE — Education for Gang Evasion — in 14 schools funded through assets forfeited in drug seizures.

“If we can steer one kid away from that life, it is worth every penny,” he said.

A wise investment?

The biggest expense is the officers’ salaries. For the most part, the program is part of a DARE officer’s regular duties and they are not paid overtime. Some departments simply can’t afford to take an officer off the street.

Orland Park Police Cmdr. John Keating said a huge contributor to the village’s DARE program is the Aileen S. Andrew Foundation. The money allows two officers to spend a total of 20 hours a week with 950 students in Districts 135, 140 and 146 and St. Michael’s.

“It’s no small investment, but we think it’s beneficial,” Keating said. “We hope to influence students’ decision-making.”

DARE updates its curriculum every seven years and currently focuses on showing kids how to make good decisions, being responsible and resisting peer pressure, officers said.

In Frankfort, they also discuss bullying and Internet safety.

DARE’s decision-making model is what Frankfort students Aaron Barber and Matt Simental remembered most about their classes: “D” means define the problem, “A” is assess your choice, “R” is respond and make a choice, “E” is evaluate your choice.

Frankfort’s DARE officers seemed to enjoy the classes as much as their students.

“This is the best three months of my life. It’s the best part of my job,” Walsh said. “We’re fortunate to have a town that stands behind the children.”

Parents were impressed not only by their students’ excitement for DARE, but also by the community’s support of the program. The chamber of commerce donated savings bonds to the essay winners and the Family School Partnership made sure every kid had a DARE T-shirt.

“This really develops a culture among the students. They can operate from the principles they learned here as they go to high school together,” parent Lennell Willis said. “To have the mayor, superintendent, police chief, all these people here just strengthens that bond.”

“I just thought it was about drugs, but I’m very excited to see that it goes beyond that,” parent Antoinette Willis said. “I’m excited that I came. This is a big deal.”

A big deal for these fifth-graders, yes. But as Frankfort Police Chief John Burica told them, “This is only the beginning. DARE is something you take from here and use the rest of your life.”