The Drug Abuse Resistance Education program (DARE) was created to be implemented in school systems in order to educate students about the dangers of drug and alcohol use and abuse. It was intended to help decrease the amount of young kids and teens that would experiment with drugs by educating them on the negative side effects of drug use.
While the general public may feel that DARE is a great program, and the leaders that run it also believe in its powerfulness, there have been a lot of studies that show a different result. Actually, some empirical studies that have been completed on the program show that it is completely ineffective. And, at times the results of the program may actually be counterproductive for some children that participated in the program.
This information can be very difficult for many individuals to deal with because there are a lot of people that feel the program is effective. These same people do not want to hear about scientific studies that claim the program is ineffective. They often feel the need to look at surveys completed by the participants that report that they learned something and that they were satisfied with the program. However, these surveys do not show the program is effective and that is what matters, is it not?
So, if you are looking for a way to decrease drug abuse or experimentation, what are some other options that you may have? What are programs that exist out there that have actually been found to be effective? Take a few moments and continue reading in order to find a few programs that might be worth trying in your schools.
The first program that you might want to consider is the Life Skills Training program. This program is for children that are ages 10 to 14 and it is generally used to help young children learn basic positive life skills as well as actual ways to avoid drug use and effective ways to avoid peer pressure. We can tell kids to just say no over and over again. However, if you do not tell them what to say instead, you really are not teaching them anything.
Another program to consider is the Strengthening Families Program and it is used to work with families that are abusing drugs as well as their children. While this may sound really foreign to a lot of people, just think about it. If you spend all day teaching a child that drugs are wrong but they go home and see drug abuse every night, which direction to you think they are more likely to go? So, by working with the entire family you may be changing the child's environment and this can have a lot of positive effects.
If you are looking for a way to decrease drug abuse then you may want to consider implementing one of these programs in your area. Officials should always be concerned with proven effectiveness if they are going to be paying for something. That is what you should consider if you are thinking about programs like DARE.
By Christine Crotts
While the general public may feel that DARE is a great program, and the leaders that run it also believe in its powerfulness, there have been a lot of studies that show a different result. Actually, some empirical studies that have been completed on the program show that it is completely ineffective. And, at times the results of the program may actually be counterproductive for some children that participated in the program.
This information can be very difficult for many individuals to deal with because there are a lot of people that feel the program is effective. These same people do not want to hear about scientific studies that claim the program is ineffective. They often feel the need to look at surveys completed by the participants that report that they learned something and that they were satisfied with the program. However, these surveys do not show the program is effective and that is what matters, is it not?
So, if you are looking for a way to decrease drug abuse or experimentation, what are some other options that you may have? What are programs that exist out there that have actually been found to be effective? Take a few moments and continue reading in order to find a few programs that might be worth trying in your schools.
The first program that you might want to consider is the Life Skills Training program. This program is for children that are ages 10 to 14 and it is generally used to help young children learn basic positive life skills as well as actual ways to avoid drug use and effective ways to avoid peer pressure. We can tell kids to just say no over and over again. However, if you do not tell them what to say instead, you really are not teaching them anything.
Another program to consider is the Strengthening Families Program and it is used to work with families that are abusing drugs as well as their children. While this may sound really foreign to a lot of people, just think about it. If you spend all day teaching a child that drugs are wrong but they go home and see drug abuse every night, which direction to you think they are more likely to go? So, by working with the entire family you may be changing the child's environment and this can have a lot of positive effects.
If you are looking for a way to decrease drug abuse then you may want to consider implementing one of these programs in your area. Officials should always be concerned with proven effectiveness if they are going to be paying for something. That is what you should consider if you are thinking about programs like DARE.
By Christine Crotts
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