Beginning as early as kindergarten, 250 million American children in 75% of our nation's school districts begin a seventeen-week course called D.A.R.E., the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program. Founded in 1983 by the Los Angeles Police department and the Los Angeles Unified School District, the D.A.R.E. program works in conjunction with local police departments in an attempt to teach children to resist peer pressure and live drug and violence free lives. The "feel-good" program has been strongly endorsed by congress and politicians and sets out objectives that seem to be in our nation's best interest. There is one catch though; the 750 million-dollar program, 220 million from taxpayers, doesn't seem to be working for a variety of reasons. Not only is D.A.R.E. no more effective than other drug prevention programs, it is no more effective that no drug program at all. In fact, in many cases, the program seems to be having the opposite effect of leading more of the nation's children into drug experimentation and use. For example, a recent study by the University of Illinois at Chicago that was funded by the Illinois state police revealed that, "Suburban students who participated in D.A.R.E. reported significantly higher rates of drug use on all four composite indices than suburban students who did not participate in the program." Studies like this prove that there is a valid argument that the funds currently being allocated to D.A.R.E. programs could be put to much better use. For example, the 750 million dollars could be used to significantly improve existing facilities at local YMCA and Boys and Girls Clubs. This additional funding, along with some corporate sponsorship could go a long way in providing opportunities to inner city youth.
D.A.R.E. has become the premiere substance abuse program not only in the United States, but also in the world. Although no one denies that fact that drug abuse is an area of continuing concern, particularly among today's youth, complaints about the program's effectiveness have steadily increased over the program's sixteen-year span. Several school districts have abandoned the program completely. Oakland, for example, recently did away with its 600,000 dollar D.A.R.E. budget. In addition, parents throughout the nation have expressed concern about the content of the curriculum, particularly a film that portrays adults as drug pushing, alcohol abusing; all adults except DARE officers of course.
The main objectives of DARE are to educate youth and help them realize they can make the choice not to use drugs. However, this muddled message also implies that they can make the choice to use drugs. In the words of one DARE officer, "I say to kids, 'You can smoke dope if you like, as long as you've considered the consequences."' Imagine if the same method were used in drivers training and new drivers were told they had the "right" to stop at a red light. The message is not clear-cut, and in many cases not applicable. For example, the D.A.R.E. curriculum includes a film titled Land of Choices and Decisions. In the film students apparently learn how to say no to drugs and avoid peer pressure. Students watch reenactments of possible situations in which they might be offered drugs, and how to avoid being pressured into the illegal and dangerous activity. However, in the film, the persons offering the drugs to children are portrayed as older, strange and frightening. Due to the fact that the sentence "Don't talk to strangers" has been drilled into the head of every child since the day he could comprehend its meaning, it seems highly unlikely that any child would accept drugs from a mysterious or frightening character. In addition, in the inner city many drug dealers aren't weird or frightening. In fact, they often drive nice cars, dress in designer brands, and might even be idolized by younger children. The truth is, in the real world, most kids use drugs for the first time after being pressured by friends or older kids whom they respect and look up to. Therefore, some of the curriculum of DARE is not applicable to real life situations, and does not make a child any more prepared to deal with peer pressure to use drugs.
Other portions of anti-drug curriculum are inaccurate, and these discrepancies are ones that are easily picked up on by children. The effects of marijuana, for example, are drastically exaggerated, possibly in an attempt to scare children. Often described as the "gateway drug", marijuana is said to cause cancer, amotivational syndrome, immune system or testosterone deficiencies or birth defects, quite a long list of unfounded claims. The problem is that kids are witnesses to the use of marijuana everyday by people all around them, and often none of the apparent side effects are visible. What is a child to think when a popular, physically fit, respected older student is seen smoking marijuana with none of the aforementioned negative consequences becoming evident? Why should a fifth grader believe a police officer over first hand experience?
The root of the problem is that children are still using drugs, regardless of whether or not they graduate from the D.A.R.E. program. Due to the limited success of the existing D.A.R.E. program, it seems a more effective measure would be to reallocate the D.A.R.E. funds to support programs that offer alternative activities for children. Part of the D.A.R.E. curriculum is to suggest alternative activities for children. The problem is there aren't many attractive alternatives, especially for inner city children. What these children need is more facilities like the YMCA and the Boys and Girls Clubs that not only offer fun activities for children that keep them off the street, but also provide them with tangible role models that they can relate to. The current problem with the YMCA and Boys and Girls Clubs is a lack of funding. A reallocation of the 750 million dollars that are currently supporting the DARE program, along with support from large corporations that have a vested interest in the revenue that inner cities account for are clear answers for solving the financial dilemma.
While the D.A.R.E. program focuses on one goal of teaching children the negative consequences of using drugs, YMCA's and Boys and Girls Clubs promote physical, moral and educational wellbeing. For example, Boys and Girls clubs offer the opportunity to participate in athletics, performing arts, photography, dramatics, journalism, fine arts, outdoor and environmental education as well as receive tutoring and educational guidance. The six objectives of the Boys and Girls Clubs are: Personal and Educational Development, Citizenship and Leadership, Cultural Enrichment, Health and Physical Education, Social Recreation, Outdoor and Environmental Education, and Community Relations. Therefore, instead of focusing on what children should not do as in the D.A.R.E. curriculum, the Boys and Girls Clubs concentrate on teaching kids what they should do. Children learn real knowledge that will help them in all aspects of their lives. More importantly, Boys and Girls Clubs offer tangible alternatives which encourage many children to go to the YMCA or Boys and Girls Clubs after school and in the evenings as opposed to hanging out on the street where they would surely be exposed to drugs and alcohol. Thus, instead of taking away seventeen hours of the teacher's time with the students as D.A.R.E. does, these clubs could fill the hours that are usually spent roaming the neighborhood and interacting with negative role models.
In addition to lacking funding, the YMCA and Boys and Girls Clubs are short on staff. The same police officers that participate in the D.A.R.E. program and receive overtime pay, could become instructors, tutors, and most importantly, role models. They could take off their uniform, don some sweatpants and interact with the children in an environment that would allow them to have a real effect on the overall life of a child. I don't think many people would argue with the fact that most children would rather participate in the aforementioned activities in the Boys and Girls Club than hang out on the street. Thus, these clubs offer new role models for inner city children, as well as providing them with peers that are interested in participating in similar recreational activities rather than experimenting with drugs.
With the increased funding, organizations like the YMCA and Boys and Girls Club could also expand and improve their facilities. Rather than create a new program or new facilities with the DARE funding, the existing facilities could be renovated or added onto, offering for example, a swimming pool, tennis courts, or maybe even a driving range. This would give children the opportunity to participate athletics beyond the traditional inner city sports like basketball, baseball and soccer. In addition, it would give minority or inner city athletes who have become successful in these elite sports a direct way to give back to community whether it be a donation of money or volunteering time. Some examples of inner city and minority athletes include Tiger Woods and Venus and Serena Williams. All three of these athletes have defied the odds and become successful in sports normally dominated by upper class whites. Serena and Venus are currently involved in a promotion of the D.A.R.E. program. However, it might be possible to coordinate with their sponsor and donate 100 tennis rackets, for example, to the local YMCA. I am sure that they would prefer to give directly back to the sport that has done so much for them by giving other inner city children a chance to compete in tennis. All three of these athletes are excellent role models for children, and could spark interest in these "country club sports" among inner city children.
Additional funding could also come from large corporations such as Nike, Reebok, and Adidas that depend on the inner city as a source of revenue. Although the inner city is poverty ridden, children are still purchasing the expensive brand-name shoes.
There is a large market for these products in the inner city and companies like Nike take advantage of this by selling their products at the same price whether it is in Compton or Beverly Hills.
In a documentary called The Big One by Michael Morris, Mr. Morris travels from large corporation to corporation attempting to discuss the companies decision to shift production out of the United States and into developing countries with the CEO's. He is denied the opportunity to speak with nearly all the CEO's, but is actually invited to have a personal meeting with Phil knight, CEO of Nike. Although Michael Morris is unsuccessful in convincing Knight to re-open a shoe factory in Michigan, he does persuade Knight to donate 10,000 dollars to the local school system. Because companies like Nike depend so heavily on the purchases of inner city youth, they should take responsibility and give back to this community. This could happen in any number of ways. For example, Nike could donate money directly to the local YMCA or Boys and Girls Club. A more likely method would be to organizing and sponsor athletic events and tournaments. Nike currently has a summer basketball camp in which the top one or two hundred high school basketball players in the nation are invited to come and compete. The problem with this sort of invite-only exclusive camp is that only the cream of the crop can attend. The majority of these players will go on to play college and maybe professional basketball. Nike needs to develop programs that reach a broader range of children, possibly programs that recognize scholar-athletes. By organizing sponsorship through the local YMCA or Boys and Girls Club, Nike could expand the number of children that benefit from their programs.
Nike could also capitalize on markets that are currently untapped in the inner cities. For example, if D.A.R.E. funds went towards the renovation and expansions of existing YMCA's and Boys and Girls Clubs, it would be possible to provide children with access to swimming pools, tennis courts and maybe even a golf course in addition to the normal basketball courts and baseball diamonds. With the emergence of minority and inner city stars like Tiger Woods and Venus and Serena Williams, there is opportunity to turn inner city youth on to these sports from which they had previously been excluded primarily due to financial constraints. A donation to the local YMCA would result in more sales for Nike because inner city kids would buy tennis rackets, swimsuits and golf clubs along with tennis and basketball shoes. In addition, it would be great publicity for the company as a whole and hopefully would encourage other companies to follow suit.
A quote from a recent study requested by the US Department of Justice sums of the current situation, "The D.A.R.E. program's limited effect of adolescent drug use contrasts with the program's popularity and prevalence. An important implication is that D.A.R.E. could be taking the place of other, more beneficial drug education programs that kids could be receiving." The 750 million- dollar D.A.R.E. budget could be put to much better use in local Boys and Girls Clubs and YMCA's. These existing facilities provide children with attractive alternatives to just "hanging out" in the streets. The curriculum is designed to offer opportunities to inner city children that they would otherwise not receive and to expose them to everything from athletics to environmental education. The problem of limited funding is one that could be solved by reallocating funds currently going to the D.A.R.E. program and by encouraging large corporations with a vested interest in the inner city to give back to the community. It would be in the companies' best interest to organize tournaments and scholarships directed at inner city children because the market for these "country club" sports has yet to be explored. Not only could companies like Nike and Reebok use Tiger Woods and the Williams sisters as marketing tools, but they could use their stardom to help direct funds back to inner cities
References
"A Different Look at Dare"
"Boys and Girls Clubs of Oakland"
http://web.aimnet.com/~hyperion/bag/Boys and Girls.html
Cauchon, Dennis. "Studies Find Drug Program Not Effective". USA Today. 11 Oct. 1993.
D.A.R.E.
Cauchon, Dennis. "Studies Find Drug Program Not Effective". USA Today. 11 Oct.1993.
Grohol, J.M. (1997) "DARE doesn't work". Perspectives: A Mental Health
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