Thread: D.A.R.E. = Bullshit

Drugs Are Really Expensive

I'm sure all of you have heard of the nationally known program D.A.R.E. Although I'm not sure all of you know what really is going on with D.A.R.E. and why its presence is definitely not needed.

D.A.R.E is a program designed for police officers to go into the classroom for a certain amount of time, and teach children "drug abuse resistance education." But what are they really teaching?

From My Personal Experiences:

While I was in 5th grade, the D.A.R.E program came to our school of course. An officer, Trooper Jesse, came in and we all immediately liked her, obviously because she is trained to be charismatic and work with kids. Trooper Jesse played games with us and we had lots of fun in her presence. But I remember, even as a kid who doesn't suspect much, thinking that some of the teachings were *off*. Such as:

-The fact that I was never given a form for my dad to sign to say it was okay for me to take the program in the first place.
- The absurdity of teaching that drugs are evil.
- Teaching kids they're losers if they do drugs, and that they have no hope in life if they do.

As for the last one, I remember Trooper Jesse asking us questions about people who do drugs and we were supposed to answer with what we had been "taught". Some of the answers the kids (who are still my classmates and have tried drugs like beer and cigarettes) replied with what they thought people who do drugs are:

"Losers"
"Idiots"
"Bums"
"No lives, or never going anywhere in life"

I wonder what these kids would think now if they heard themselves back then.

I recently (yesterday in fact) just finished the last course of D.A.R.E. Of course now I have earned a passionate hatred from my new D.A.R.E. officer who, not only looks mentally retarded, but also acts mentally retarded.

This man was definitely not cut out for teaching the rubbish from D.A.R.E. in the first place. Not only could he not keep us under control, he wouldn't listen to us (me in particular), he ignored our questions (me in particular) and taught us absolutely nothing. I actually got quite worried with his teachings. He told us that:

Cops are in control
Cops can do whatever they want
Cops could, on probably any count, find something to arrest you for even if you are innocent.
You could get charged for an M.I.P (Minor In Possession) if your parent has beer and the cop is a jerk.
To do whatever the officer says even if it's wrong.

He taught us laws that have no way out, laws that put the cop in complete control and there's nothing we can do. It's obvious they want us ignorant to the laws that protect us.

Not only did he "teach" us this, he scared me by performing "control methods" on my classmates. He would use the pressure points on my classmates (only the boys though) to bring them to the floor. He didn't like me very much when I pointed out that he could probably get in trouble for that. But he doesn't like me anyway because I questioned him too much and he didn't know how to answer my questions. For example, we were having a discussion about laws and I wasn't paying attention because nothing he was saying was interesting me until I heard the words "hitchhiker" and "illegal". I raised my hand and the conversation was:

Me: Did you say hitchhiking was illegal?
Officer: Yes
Me: Right… so what if you're homeless?
Officer: Then I guess you'll have to walk.
Me: YOU just said hitchhiking was illegal!!!!

He stammers and then finally gives up and ignores me the rest of the period

So, what have I learned from D.A.R.E? That officers are stupid and wasting time that could be spent towards giving me a real education which will actually get me somewhere in life, and that the officers are brainwashed too.

Is D.A.R.E worth it?

Seriously folks! What is wrong with having a REAL professional with much more of an education come in and talk to us?

Not only that, D.A.R.E consumes over $750,000,000.00 dollars a year. Of course, you are paying for all of that. For the bumper stickers, the shirts, the stickers, the pens, the pencils, etc.

D.A.R.E also has no affect on kids (according to the sites given below and my own experiences). They're teaching methods are also way off. They're completely ignoring the issues of reality and society. They fail to teach the dangers of the media. They fail to teach about the real problems: alcohol and tobacco. While I was a D.A.R.E student, all they talked about was cocaine, meth, and marijuana. Marijuana being the most discussed and most "bad". Why? Because they are all illegal. They ignorantly focus on the illegal substances rather than the more important ones such as alcohol, cigarettes, and even prescription drugs. Also, the fact that they teach that all drugs are horrific is insanity. Whatever happened to responsible drinking? And smoking? I'd like to see those D.A.R.E. officers tell me they have never tried either of those.

I'd like to see some real drug programs step in over D.A.R.E and do some real teaching.

Because obviously this is not what we need being to taught to our children.

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