Athens Police Officer Rick Crossen has half of last year's budget to teach kids about drugs, violence and self-esteem, but snuffing D.A.R.E. from Athens City School District's students is out of the question.
Crossen said he's almost spent all of the $1,000 budget he has to implement D.A.R.E., which is down from $2,000 in the previous years. Crossen relies almost solely on donations from Kiwanis Club of Athens and other businesses to make up for the $4,000 to $5,000 he spends annually as he travels to all five schools in the district to involve kids in 13 weeks of Drug Abuse Resistance Education.
I truly believe D.A.R.E. is effective
Crossen said. It's not just a 'say no to drugs' program it's teaching them to make good choices.
The 250 Athens City 6th graders that participate in D.A.R.E every year learn how to stand up for themselves and how to value their independence, as well as the negative effects of alcohol, tobacco and marijuana, according to the D.A.R.E. booklet that students use to study. Students then write a speech pledging to abstain from alcohol and drugs at the end of the 13 weeks, Crossen said.
I think it's really interesting and it's very informative since we're going into middle school and (other students) say that we'll have to do drugs then said 6th grader Janelle Brannan. This helps us stand up for ourselves and not give into peer pressure.
Program Director John Padget for Basset House, a drug rehabilitation center for teens, works with 13- to- 18-year-olds from Athens, Hocking and Vinton County who have given into that pressure. He said that though he thinks D.A.R.E is useful, he has seen a shift from alcohol and marijuana abusers to heroin usage.
Seven teenagers out of the 24 in Padget's program are there for using and selling heroin. A lot of drug dealers convince high schoolers to do their drug dealing for them because if kids get caught they'll just go to rehab, opposed to a jail sentence for the adult dealer, Padget said.
I've seen damage done. I've seen kids die
I've seen families torn apart and I don't want to see anymore of it
Padget said.
D.A.R.E. is a useful tool to combat drug abuse; however it becomes less effective when parents are left out of the educational process, he said.
Laura Hopstetter, the administrator for community services in Health and Recovery Services, said that she conducts three separate programs in the community for parents and only two or three families across the four county range she covers attends.
HRS also conducts programs for students in other school districts, but cannot get into Athens City School District because state mandated testing limits the educational schedule. The D.A.R.E. program ends at 8th grade but Hopstetter said that anti-drug education should continue into high school because drug and alcohol usage is the most prevalent at that age, she said.
I think D.A.R.E. is good for the little kids
but I think it wears off
said Athens High School Principal Mike Meek. There needs to be a stronger program in place. It's got to be more cut and dry; if (kids) get caught
something is going to happen to them
whether they end up in court or have higher fines.
He said that D.A.R.E. would work better if kids understood a zero-tolerance policy
which would lead them to court based on bad decisions such as drug usage.
Jess Crane, a junior studying theatre, said that she doesn't think D.A.R.E. is effective.
I can't even remember if I signed the pledge not to do (drugs or alcohol)
she said. I think D.A.R.E. is done at too young of an age; I know I've done some of the things they said you shouldn't.
Eden Oxley, a sophomore studying English, said that she doesn't do drugs based on her own choices, not because of what she learned in D.A.R.E.
It doesn't target the right age group
