Drug Abuse Resistance Education (more commonly known as D.A.R.E) isn't going to be educating much on drug abuse resistance anymore.
Yes, you read that right.
D.A.R.E. has been a driving force in drug prevention and education since the 1980s, but the organization is all but eliminating the focal point of its campaign. After recently determining the conversation is not "age-appropriate" for fifth and sixth graders, the non-profit is reforming its curriculum to focus less on drugs and more on character development.
According to D.A.R.E.'s one-page outline of curriculum changes, its new "keepin' it REAL (kiR)" elementary curriculum will only address marijuana after it "has been established to be an age-appropriate topic for the individual concerned classroom."
D.A.R.E.'s program changes put a bubble around kids who deserve honest education, pretending they haven't heard references or been inquisitive prior to hearing what it has to say.
An assumption can be made that this is all a response to revenue loss following years of backlash and an announcement from the Government Accountability Office claiming D.A.R.E. has actually correlated with increased drug use. D.A.R.E. America's revenue has declined from $10 million in 2002 to a barely breathing $3.7 million in 2010, causing the organization to rack up million-dollar operational deficits.
Granted, the curriculum will start focusing more on alcohol and tobacco use and abuse and will help kids make responsible decisions after being given information on the drugs. Alcohol is considered to be the most powerful and damaging drug, and nicotine is almost always ranked No. 1 or in the top three of the most addictive drugs. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), 72 percent of teenagers have consumed alcohol by the time they graduate and 37 percent have done so since eighth grade. Additionally, nearly half (44 percent) of America's youth have tried cigarettes by 12th grade.
But according to D.A.R.E., the near-exclusion of marijuana in new policy is because "most students in this age group have no basis of reference to the substance. Research has found that teaching children about drugs with which they have never heard of or have no real life understanding may stimulate their interest or curiosity about the substance."
Not everyone takes away something from it, but D.A.R.E. is good for that age group. The conversation is age-appropriate because it's the last point before these kids move onto middle school or the point when they're transitioning into middle school. It's the last age of innocence, the point where they're faced with the influence of older middle students and, in some cases, high schoolers. In fifth and sixth grade, D.A.R.E. is still a force instead of a joke, and drugs are still an idea instead of an action.
Whatever choices the students are going to make, they should still be informed and learn the consequences. By ignoring drugs in the curriculum and hoping that kids apply their teachings from a couple weeks of tobacco and alcohol education, D.A.R.E. is ignoring the fact illegal and illicit drug use is something that could happen. "Age-appropriate" or not, the current marijuana use rate by kids ages 12 to 17 is nearly 7 percent, and the rate for hallucinogens among the same age group is 1 percent. In addition to whatever they can find that can be smoked, snorted or shot, prescription drug use is starting to gain further popularity. In 2010, approximately 7 million people were current users of psychotheraputic drugs taken non-medically. One in 12 high school seniors have reported nonmedical use of Vicodin; one in 20 have reported abuse of OxyContin.
Unfortunately (and whether the organization likes it or not), D.A.R.E. has some responsibility to inform kids about all possible scenarios because parents - who want to believe the best in their children - don't see it as age-appropriate or necessary or just don't want to do it. And neither wants to fuss with the issue of legality. Tobacco and alcohol are easier subjects - at least for some age groups they're legal. For the rest in a thick encyclopedia of options, D.A.R.E. just hopes that no one will notice. If it acts like they don't exist, nothing could possibly go wrong.
If D.A.R.E. is going to update its program, it can forget the demographic it is supposed to be helping. This isn't supposed to be about the money or the critics; it's supposed to be about the kids who its curriculum is supposed to be helping - the kids who it wants to walk away from the lessons and actually get something out of it.
Email: editorial@ubspectrum.com
