Is DARE useful anymore?

[jedimaster91]

I agree the current program is pretty lame. Many of the kids see the effects of the drug culture first hand, and they accept it as normal. Very sad, IMO.

[Skunkle]

I was a "good kid", very much so. Went through DARE. I remember the officer we had was nice enough. Even at that age, I knew a lot of the terms for various drugs listed in the material we were given had to be very dated; to this day, I wonder whether that wasn't being out-of-step with the times, but rather avoiding passing us current terms we could use to actually get the stuff, as I'm sure police know the current words. Even then, when I saw a group of kids lighting dry grass on fire and inhaling the rising smoke - I asked what they were doing, and it seems they were trying to "smoke grass" like one's older brother said he did - I laughed. I didn't know much about the stuff, but I knew "doing it wrong" when I saw it. Don't know if DARE stopped me from doing drugs; I don't think I would have anyway. I didn't like the idea of screwing with my brain functions.

To this day, I'm pretty open, but not interested in the stuff personally. Know quite a few potheads and e-tards, will hang around trhem while they get high; avoid anyone who uses harder stuff; I DO drink alcohol and smoke, but refuse to touch cigarettes (they smell horrible, I can't imagine them tasting very good). I smoke a pipe. I know full well that smoking pot won';t destroy your life - but at the same time, most of the pot-heads I know get so mellow that they only want to flop on the couch, when I want to go take a walk.

[ben_who]

At our school we had ADAPT; I think this was before DARE really took off like a house fire. The opinion of the surrounding school district was that because we actually had a drug abuse prevention program that we were a cesspool of drugs and thuggery. Meanwhile, I was in college before I ever saw a joint. Of course, later, all those same schools discovered that by enrolling in similar programs, they could tap into the federal money tree, and suddenly we weren't such a cesspool anymore.

ADAPT was a very good brainwashing program, as far as that goes. The trouble with brainwashing is that when it wears off, the results can be pretty spectacular. I spent two years of high school convinced that a single sip of beer would leave me dead in the gutter with needle tracks between my toes within a month. That kind of relentless education can result in a pretty vicious backlash when the kids discover that risky behavior means just that - "risky" - and not "instant suicide." We were taught that beer was as potent as moonshine, that pot was no different from crack, and that protected sex was only slightly less risky than unprotected sex - and that any of these was essentially like toying with a loaded gun. Then the truth leaked through...

Love, Who?

[Mr Slugger]

The funny thing is our daughter went to dare classes, and in those classes they taught how to look out for drugs. Yet still thinks we roll our own cigarettes

As far as DARE now it's pretty crippled. Most towns don't have the money to support it, and in some towns they attempt to make themselves useful only in doing cigarette & liquor stings. Sure they still send an officer to talk to kids, but there's no dare van, no tshirts, nothing. And now that marijuana has been decriminalized in this state they've pretty much just given up.

[Bloodsoul]

All I remember from my DARE program as a kid was the officer mentioning the Hollywoodization of drug use, using the final scene of Independence Day with Steve and David smoking cigars as the example. I had already seen the film prior and wanted to make a comment that he may have taken the scene out of context (David realizing that smoking a cigar isn't quite as bad for his health as, say, being trapped in the mothership of an invading alien species bent on global destruction)...

...well, I decided to just keep my mouth shut instead.

[BroomJockey]

DARE never was useful. Kids aren't as stupid as DARE likes to think, so the total scare tactics of "everyone is doing drugs but you, and the drugs will kill you DEAD" doesn't work the millisecond that they meet someone who does drugs who isn't dead.

[SimplyAnother]

DARE never was useful. Kids aren't as stupid as DARE likes to think, so the total scare tactics of "everyone is doing drugs but you, and the drugs will kill you DEAD" doesn't work the millisecond that they meet someone who does drugs who isn't dead.

Heh, that was my thought too. When was DARE ever REALLY useful.


That said, I haven't ever done illegal drugs. But I'm not giving the DARE program any credit for that.

[BroomJockey]

That said, I haven't ever done illegal drugs. But I'm not giving the DARE program any credit for that.

I've never done any illegal drugs either. Nor had unprotected sex, nor have I repeatedly drunk myself stupid. And I never was in DARE at all. It came to my school about 2 years after I left. The weird part? I hung out with all the stoners and drinkers anyways. *lol*

[guywithashovel]

We had DARE when I was in middle school. It was kind of fun. If nothing else, it was a nice break from all the other stuff we had to do in school. We got to play some games and watch some videos, which were nice breaks from the normal school day.

I guess you could say it was somewhat effective on me. I've never touched weed, cocaine, or any other illegal substances. I do enjoy a drink every now and then---and even then it's usually some crappy American beer, which isn't much different from drinking Pepsi. I did experiment with cigarettes when I was in seventh and eighth grades. I was going through a phase then when I thought it was cool to smoke---mainly because many of my relatives smoked. But I gave that up when my parents caught me with some cigarettes. Since then, I have tried cigarettes and cigars off and on, but I always venture away from them pretty quickly. I don't like the way they make my hands, breath, and clothes smell. Plus, I'm a bit of a health nut. I don't like to do too many things that are unhealthy for me. This includes eating unhealthy foods.

[Flyndaran]

If they didn't tow the company line of BS, they might have an effect. Drugs are dangerous, because all drugs are dangerous, and even more so when not prescribed by a competent physician.
My only bad or even any kind of drug experiences have been from bad reactions to doctor prescribed ones. If someone that spent years learning about phsysiology could make a common mistake like that, then why should I think I know more about illicit pharamocology?