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Is the D.A.R.E. program good for America's kids (K-12)?

This ProCon.org website provides a summary of the debate on whether or not the D.A.R.E. program is good for America's kids (K-12).


Overview	Pro & Con Arguments	Did You Know?
Background	Images & Videos	Take the Survey

Overview: "Is the D.A.R.E. program good for America's kids (K-12)?"

D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education), an international 501(c)3 nonprofit organization formed in 1983, administers a school-based substance abuse prevention program in 80% of school districts nationwide in all 50 states and in 43 countries (as of 2008), making it the most popular drug abuse prevention program in the US. [1] [2] Its mission is "teaching students good decision making skills to help them lead safe and healthy lives." [3] As of 2009, the program has trained over 50,000 police officers to teach its program every year to 36 million K-12 students worldwide - 26 million in the US alone. [1] [2]

D.A.R.E.'s 2008 budget was $6.6 million; however, in 2001, economist Dr. Edward Shepard estimated that D.A.R.E. costs $1-1.3 billion annually (about $173 to $268 per student per year) to implement nationwide once all related expenses, such as police officer training and services, materials and supplies, school resources, etc., were factored in. [4]

A 2009 peer-reviewed five-year study (381 KB)

by Dr. Zili Sloboda, et al., of over 19,000 students found that D.A.R.E. graduates who had used marijuana in the 7th grade had reduced or eliminated their marijuana use by the 11th grade. However, according to Dr. Dennis Rosenbaum, Director of the Center for Research in Law and Criminal Justice, over 30 studies have concluded that D.A.R.E. "does not prevent drug use" in students and that drug use of program graduates is "indistinguishable from students who do not participate in the program." [5]

In a 2001 report, the Office of the Surgeon General said D.A.R.E. "does not work." [6] On Jan. 15, 2003, the General Accounting Office (GAO) (328 KB)

, which changed its name to the Government Accountability Office on July 7, 2004, reported "D.A.R.E. had no statistically significant long-term effect on preventing youth illicit drug use."

Supporters argue that D.A.R.E. effectively helps millions of kids find alternatives to drug abuse in ways beyond what schools and families can provide. Proponents contend that kids and parents like the program, and that it fosters valuable relationships between police, family, and schools.

Critics argue that scientific evidence shows no significant difference between future drug use in kids who have "graduated" from the costly D.A.R.E. program and those who have not. They contend that the program is misleading and can actually increase drug use by students. [Click here for expanded background]

Pro & Con Arguments: "Is the D.A.R.E. program good for America's kids (K-12)?"

PRO D.A.R.E. program

D.A.R.E. gives kids the resources they need to resist the temptation of drug abuse. A 2009 study (381 KB) of D.A.R.E.'s "Take Charge of Your Life" coursework showed that D.A.R.E. graduates who had used marijuana in the 7th grade had reduced or eliminated their marijuana use by the 11th grade. [7]
A 2002 privately-funded study from the University of Akron concluded that D.A.R.E. was successful in teaching kids how to refuse drugs. D.A.R.E. graduates had a 5% increase in refusal skills compared to those who had not taken the program. [8]
The D.A.R.E. program exposes kids to drug abuse prevention awareness that goes beyond the resources traditional school and family settings provide. [1]
D.A.R.E. allows greater social interaction between police officers and children. Results from a 2007 study indicates that students prefer police officers as instructors, suggesting that programs delivered by police officers, such as D.A.R.E., are more likely to have a positive impact.
Unlike most other substance abuse prevention programs, the main D.A.R.E. curriculum is usually taught to kids around 11 years old, the ideal age to start teaching kids about drugs.
D.A.R.E. is popular with kids and parents. A 2007 survey (1.6 MB) by the Canadian government showed 95% of 5,376 kids surveyed felt the program helped them "decide against using drugs in the future" and 99% of 3,095 parents surveyed showed "very positive support" for D.A.R.E. and felt their children "benefited from the program."
In Aug. 2009, the D.A.R.E. program overcame criticisms that it was ineffective by implementing a more flexible curriculum that is proven to be "research-based" and "effective." [9]
Critics who say the D.A.R.E. program is worthless neglect the fact that one of the program's more valuable results is the positive relationship it fosters among police, families, and schools. [10]
There is not one drug prevention program that is 100% successful. D.A.R.E. helps students to make sensible decisions about drugs in the face of a drug-friendly culture and societal pressures from peers, movies, books, and television. [10]
Some studies critical of D.A.R.E. are themselves flawed because they are not peer-reviewed or the authors are biased against the program and in favor of their own drug abuse prevention program curricula.

CON D.A.R.E. program

The popularity of the program camouflages the fact that it does not work. Evidence from over 30 studies concluded D.A.R.E. "does not prevent drug use" in students and D.A.R.E. graduates "are indistinguishable from students who do not participate in the program." [5]
A peer-reviewed, six-year study published in 1998 concluded that suburban students who participated in D.A.R.E. reported a 3%-5% higher rate of drug use than suburban students who did not participate. [11]
The one-size-fits-all D.A.R.E. curriculum does little to prepare kids for the real and complex drug choices they are likely to face.
Police officers are ineffective as D.A.R.E. instructors because they have limited teaching experience and strained relationships with some parts of the community. [5]
Of over 500 parents of teens surveyed in 2006 (941 KB) by the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, only 5% believed the D.A.R.E. program was responsible for keeping kids drug-free, ranking below parents, schools, church, and law enforcement.
A 2009 study showed that, after four years, 31% of both D.A.R.E. graduates and non-graduates used marijuana. [7]
Students say that the D.A.R.E. message is repeated so often at school that the concept has lost its meaning and become tedious. [12]
Despite changes made to the D.A.R.E. program, between 2000 and 2009, the rates of drug use among participants of the "New D.A.R.E." program are the same as those taught under the original, ineffective program. [13]
Some parents become less involved with their kids' education in drug abuse awareness because they believe D.A.R.E. is doing it for them. [14]
Although the D.A.R.E. program may have some immediate beneficial effects on students' knowledge about drugs and their attitudes towards police, those effects dissipate and are gone typically within one to two years. [5]

Sources: click here

Did You Know?

Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama have all declared one day each year to be National D.A.R.E. Day. [15]
The D.A.R.E. curriculum had been excluded from the US Department of Education's National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices because it did not have a "scientifically tested," "evidence-based" curriculum. In Aug. 2009, D.A.R.E. changed to a curriculum that is included in the registry. [16] [17]
As of 2008, the D.A.R.E. program was taught in all 50 states and in 43 countries, reaching 36 million kids a year - 26 million in the US alone. [1] [2]

Background: "Is the D.A.R.E. program good for America's kids (K-12)?"

According to a 2008 study (971 KB)

by the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research, 28% of US students have tried an illicit drug by the end of 8th grade. That number increases to 47% of all students by the end of high school. The 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (251 KB)

shows that adolescents who received substance use prevention education at school were 2.5% less likely than those who did not to have used illicit drugs (9.7% vs. 12.2%).

The most widely used school-based substance abuse prevention program in the United States is the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program, which is funded by both private and federal sources. The D.A.R.E. program was developed in 1983 by then Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl Gates and then Superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District Harry Handler, PhD. D.A.R.E. was meant "to break the generational cycle of drug abuse, related criminal activity, and arrest." [18] The program focuses primarily on what it calls "gateway" drugs, such as tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, and inhalants, which allegedly lead to harder drug use.

The core D.A.R.E. curriculum is a one-semester course taught one hour a week for ten weeks by a trained, uniformed police officer which ends in a D.A.R.E. graduation ceremony. While the program is taught at the elementary, middle, and high school levels, the curricula is usually given to children in the fifth or sixth grade.

Every sitting US President since 1988 has declared one day each year to be National D.A.R.E. Day through Presidential Proclamation. President Barack Obama declared Apr. 8, 2009 to be National D.A.R.E. Day. [15]

D.A.R.E.'s 2008 annual report (3.6 MB)

showed total revenues around $6.6 million (down from $9.7 million in 2000). Licensing royalties alone brought in $3.2 million (49% of total revenues), and D.A.R.E.'s President, Charlie Parsons, made an annual salary of $215,040 while four other executives also earned six-figure salaries. [19]

Evidence from over 30 studies concluded D.A.R.E. "does not prevent drug use" in students and D.A.R.E. graduates "are indistinguishable from students who do not participate in the program." [5] One study from 1998 showed that the program increased drug use: "Suburban students who participated in D.A.R.E. reported significantly higher rates 3-5%... of drug use... than suburban students who did not participate in the program." [11] A Jan. 15, 2003 General Accounting Office letter (328 KB)

to Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) found "no significant differences in illicit drug use between students who received DARE... and students who did not." In a 2001 report, the Office of the Surgeon General said the D.A.R.E. program "does not work" and placed D.A.R.E. under the category of "Ineffective Prevention Programs." [6]

Since 2001, D.A.R.E. officials have been developing new curricula to counter this mounting criticism. D.A.R.E. has moved away from former approaches to drug use prevention, such as Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" program in the 1980's and their own "8 Ways to Say No" program, to include more student interaction and drug prevention coaching with less police officer lecturing. [20]

For example, in Aug. 2009, D.A.R.E. adopted a new curriculum called "keepin' it REAL" which encouraged kids to use the "REAL" method: "Refuse offers to use substances, Explain why you do not want to use substances, Avoid situations in which substances are used, and Leave situations in which substances are used." [21]

Since 1998, D.A.R.E. had failed to meet federal requirements that its program be "research based" and "effective" in order to receive federal grant money. [22] The Department of Education excluded D.A.R.E. from its 2001 list of "promising and exemplary programs that promote safe, disciplined, and drug-free schools." [16] In Aug. 2009, D.A.R.E. adopted the new "keepin' it REAL" curriculum that is considered by the Department of Education to be both "research based" and "effective" and makes D.A.R.E. eligible for federal funding and inclusion in the Department of Education's list of "Evidence-based Programs and Practices." [21]

Images & Videos (click to enlarge)

A. Image Gallery (click to enlarge)

Officer Steven Havens of the Oneonta (NY) Police Department teaching students the D.A.R.E. program
Source: "D.A.R.E.," oneonta.ny.us (accessed Jan. 20, 2010)

D.A.R.E. graduation card includes its lesson on how to say no to drugs
Source: "DARE Card," Oracle ThinkQuest Education Foundation website (accessed Feb. 18, 2010)

Anti-D.A.R.E. protest at the Denver Public Schools Administration building
Source: "Activism Photos," www.kengorman.org (accessed Feb. 17, 2009)

B. Video Gallery

(click image to watch video)


KOMU 8 reports on the Columbia (MO) Public School District eliminating its D.A.R.E. program Source: "D.A.R.E. Gets Dropped" www.viimeo.com, July 6, 2009	One song that D.A.R.E. provides to students Source: "D.A.R.E. Song (I Will Dare)," www.youtube.com (accessed Jan. 12, 2010)

Readers' Comments
We post pro, con, and not clearly pro or con comments in the approximate ratio that we received them. We sometimes edit comments for brevity, clarity, and spelling. We may also remove comments posted when we find better comments covering the same issues or for other good reasons.
PRO D.A.R.E. Program	CON D.A.R.E. Program
"Two of my five children have graduated from the D.A.R.E. program. My oldest child won the D.A.R.E. speech contest at his school. I believe this program is good for kids because they are influenced by the media about drug use so often, it becomes routine. I don't want drugs to be a routine part of my children's lives and this program teaches how to resist the temptations of drug use. I do believe that it is not only up to the D.A.R.E. program, though, parents must use the program as an open door for communication with their children in order to really get the message through to children." Jennifer, Apr. 6, 2010 "I believe in today’s world we have to influence young minds when their most impressionable. The D.A.R.E program did introduce me to what kind of drugs to stay away from (all of them) I would never have known to stay away with out this program." Anonymous, Mar. 8, 2010 "Though I openly advocate for the legalization of drugs, I believe the D.A.R.E. program to be valuable to reduce drug use amongst minors. The program should NOT be used as a de facto spying tool against students' parents and friends (this has been reported to be the case in SE New Hampshire - at least in the past) but should remain strictly an educational venue to keep children away from drugs during the growth spurt years." Charles, Mar. 1, 2010 "If it weren't for the D.A.R.E. program in elementary school, I wouldn't know the facts about drugs growing up. Hearing about things from your peers is not reliable, as they are just as young and naive as you. Parents might not necessarily tell you the truth, if they even talk about it." Anonymous, Feb. 20, 2010	"I was in one of the first D.A.R.E. classes back in the dark ages. Fast forward a fairly insignificant amount of time later, I was an active alcoholic and drug addict. As it turns out, research shows that the vast majority of people who become substance abusers are predisposed to the problem in fairly detectable ways, usually through psychological testing and environmental / hereditary surveys. D.A.R.E. misses the point in two critical ways. First, it includes all children indiscriminately, irrespective of their overall likelihood of future substance abuse. Second, it has no measurable benefit in reducing abuse by those who are at higher risk. Public schooling has always been, to some degree, an exercise in indoctrinating children into prevailing public policy. However, programs that have a null - or worse, a reverse - effect are nothing but a waste of tax dollars." Dave, Mar. 21, 2010 "As a parent, I prefer to be the one to educate my child about drugs (legal and illegal), alcohol, tobacco, sex, religion, and politics. This is my job as a parent. It is not the job of police to attempt to indoctrinate children. D.A.R.E. does not teach children to think critically. It teaches them to fear the world." Nicole, Feb. 28, 2010 "I thought this was a pretty neutral presentation except for the apparent assumption 'anti-drug programs' programs are appropriate. I don't think such a presumption would be made for a 'pro-drug program.' DARE is mainly a propaganda program, not an educational program. It takes positions on core matters of religious belief which are consistently biased against minority beliefs. It is politically biased. It doesn't belong in public schools for these and other reasons. It is more successful as a financial scam than anything else." Robert, Feb. 26, 2010 "I have two sons and the one that went though the Dare Program ended up on Drugs, shut it down it is giving them the wrong information about drugs." Sawyer, computer specialist, Feb. 23, 2010 "I went through the DARE program in the 4th grade and as an adult haven't found it useful at all. Being taught to automatically refuse whatever substance the government deems 'harmful' today has no place in an education process that should encourage critical thinking and independent examination of evidence." Anonymous, Feb. 18, 2010
NOT CLEARLY PRO OR CON D.A.R.E. Program
"No one program is going to fix the drug problem but we have to keep trying. D.A.R.E. is at least trying. In order for anything to work you need to have parent involvement as well as the community. When we stop making excuses drug programs will work." Kathy, Feb. 28, 2010
Please take our short survey and give your opinion on whether or not you think the D.A.R.E. program is good for America's kids (K-12). We'd also like to know what you think of this "micro" site. At the end of the survey, please leave us a comment for posting in our Readers' Comments section above.

Footnotes & Sources

The summary and pro and con arguments were written by ProCon.org staff based upon input from the following footnotes and sources:

Footnotes:

"About D.A.R.E.," www.dare.com (accessed Jan. 13, 2010)
"New D.A.R.E.: Substance Abuse and Violence Prevention Inside the 21st Century School House," www.tennessee.gov, July 20, 2004
"The D.A.R.E. Mission," www.dare.com (accessed Feb. 4, 2010)
Edward Shepard, PhD, "A New Study Finds... We Wasted Billions on D.A.R.E.," ReconsiDer Quarterly, Winter 2001-2002
Dennis Rosenbaum, PhD, "Just Say No to D.A.R.E.," Criminology & Public Policy, Nov. 29, 2007
"Youth Violence: A Report of the Surgeon General," Office of the Surgeon General, US Department of Health & Human Services website, 2001
Zili Sloboda, ScD, et al., "The Adolescent Substance Abuse Prevention Study: A Randomized Field Trial of a Universal Substance Abuse Prevention Program," Drug and Alcohol Dependence, Jan. 21, 2009
"Study Shows New DARE Program Helps Youths Decide against Using Drugs," Press Release, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation website, Oct. 29, 2002
"The New D.A.R.E. Junior High/Middle School Curriculum," www.dare.org (accessed Jan. 22, 2010)
Sarah Birkeland, et al., "Good Reasons for Ignoring Good Evaluation: The Case of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) Program," Evaluation and Program Planning, Aug. 2005
Dennis Rosenbaum, PhD, and Gordon Hanson, PhD, "Assessing the Effects of School-based Drug Education: A 6-year Multilevel Analysis of Project D.A.R.E.," Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, Nov. 1998
Julie Sherwood, "The DARE Debate," Daily Messenger, Aug. 10, 2008
Ariel Kalishman, "D.A.R.E. Fact Sheet," Drug Policy Alliance website, Apr. 2003
Erica C. Barnett, "The DARE Debate," weeklywire.com, Aug. 17, 1998
"National D.A.R.E. Day," www.dare.com, Apr. 8, 2009
"Exemplary and Promising Safe, Disciplined, and Drug-Free Schools Programs 2001," US Department of Education website, Apr. 2001
"National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices," Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) website (accessed Feb. 2, 2010)
"25 Years D.A.R.E. America," D.A.R.E. 2008 annual report, www.dare.com (accessed Jan. 28, 2010)
"Form 990," www.guidestar.org, 2008
Kate Zernike, "Antidrug Program Says It Will Adopt a New Strategy," New York Times, Feb. 15, 2001
"Keepin' It REAL," National Registry of Evidence Programs and Practices (NREPP), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) website, Dec. 2006
"Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program: Notice of Final Principles of Effectiveness," Department of Education website, June 1, 1998

Sources:

Brian Braiker, "'Just Say Know': An Advocate of Drug Law Reform Says D.A.R.E. Is a 20-year Old Failure," Newsweek. Apr. 15, 2003

Richard Clayton, PhD, et al., ?The Effectiveness of Drug Abuse Resistance Education (Project D.A.R.E.): 5-year Follow Up Results," Preventative Medicine, May 1996

"D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education)," East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office website (accessed Jan. 15, 2010)

"D.A.R.E. Arkansas," darearkansas.com (accessed Jan. 13, 2010)

"Drug Abuse Resistance Education," Fairview Heights Illinois Police Department website (accessed Jan. 12, 2010)

"D.A.R.E.: Drug Abuse Resistance Education: National Client Survey 2007," Royal Canadian Mounted Police Survey, www.dare.com, 2007

Susan Ennett, PhD, et al., "How Effective Is Drug Abuse Resistance Education? A Meta-Analysis of Project DARE Outcome Evaluations," American Journal of Public Health, Sep. 1994

"Exposure to Substance Use Prevention Messages and Substance Use among Adolescents: 2002 to 2007," National Survey on Drug Use and Health: The NSDUH Report, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) website, Apr. 2, 2009

Allison Gruner Gandhi, PhD, et al., ?The Devil Is in the Details: Examining the Evidence for 'Proven' School-Based Drug Abuse Prevention Programs," Evaluation Review, Feb. 2007

Augustine Hammond, PhD, et al., "Do Adolescents Perceive Police Officers as Credible Instructors of Substance Abuse Prevention Programs?" Health Education Research, Aug. 2008

Don C. Des Jarlais, PhD, et al., "Diffusion of the D.A.R.E. and Syringe Exchange Programs," American Journal of Public Health, Aug. 2006

Lloyd D. Johnston, PhD, et al., "Monitoring the Future: National Survey Results on Drug Use, 1975-2008: Vol. 1: Secondary School Students," monitoringthefuture.org, Sep. 2009

Lloyd D. Johnston, PhD, et al., "Monitoring the Future: National Survey Results on Drug Use, Overview of Key Findings, 2008," monitoringthefuture.org, May 2009

Marjorie E. Kanof, "Youth Illicit Drug Use Prevention: DARE Long-Term Evaluations and Federal Efforts to Identify Effective Programs," US Government Accountability Office website, Jan. 15, 2003

Wayne L. Lucas, PhD, "Parents' Perceptions of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education Program (DARE)," Journal of Child & Adolescent Substance Abuse, Aug. 2008

Jeffrey C. Merrill, MPH, et al., "Substance Abuse Prevention Infrastructure: A Survey-based Study of the Organizational Structure and Function of the D.A.R.E. Program," Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy, Sep. 6, 2006

David Miller, "DARE Reinvents Itself - with Help from Its Social-Scientist Critics," Chronicle of Higher Education, Oct. 19, 2001

"National Survey of American Attitudes on Substance Abuse XI: Teens and Parents," National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University website, Aug. 2006

"Overview: Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools," OSDFS website (accessed Jan. 18, 2010)

Christopher Ringwalt, DrPH, et al., "Past and Future Directions of the D.A.R.E. Program: An Evaluation Review," Office of Justice Programs, US Department of Justice website, Sep. 1994

"The Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Advisory Committee Meeting," US Department of Education website, Aug. 21-22, 2006

Dennis L. Thombs, PhD, "Retrospective Study of DARE: Substantive Effects not Detected in Undergraduates," Journal of Alcohol and Drug Education, Fall 2000

Carol Hischon Weiss, PhD, et al., ?An Alternate Route to Policy Influence: How Evaluations Affect DARE,? American Journal of Evaluation, Mar. 2005

Steven West, PhD, and Keri K. O'Neal, PhD, "Project D.A.R.E. Outcome Effectiveness Revisited," American Journal of Public Health, June 2004

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