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BRIEF HISTORY AND OVERVIEW D.A.R.E. America, a national Non-profit organization, was founded in 1983 by Los Angeles Police chief Daryl Gates . D.A.R.E. America is the main resource center that provides officer training, supports the development and evaluation of the D.A.R.E. Curriculum , provides student educational materials, monitors instruction standards and program results, and creates national awareness for both community and national chapters of the program. The D.A.R.E. program has since become pervasively used throughout the U.S. and in several other countries. It has received numerous accolades and awards for its efforts at "keeping kids off drugs". The instructors of the D.A.R.E. curriculum are local police officers who must undergo 80 hours of special training in areas such as Child Development , Classroom Management , Teaching techniques, and Communication skills. For High School instructors, 40 hours of additional training are prescribed. The course is complemented by a variety of activities aimed at children, such as D.A.R.E. Song s which the students sing together, as well as T-shirts , plastic cards, pins, and other accessories. Playing off the Acronym (and playing up the commercialism), many of these collectibles bear the sentence "D.A.R.E. to keep kids off drugs" and "D.A.R.E. to say no". Several spin-off or inspired programs, such as DECIDE , have also been introduced for use in Elementary School (and, to a lesser extent, Junior High School ) classrooms. CRITICISM D.A.R.E. has fallen under heavy criticism from various sources. The most common charge is that it is ineffective, and that there is no proof that students who go through the D.A.R.E. program are any less likely to use drugs. A , and the California Legislative Analyst's office, reported that tracked suburban students who participated in D.A.R.E. were more likely than others to drink Alcohol , Smoke Tobacco and take Illegal Drug s. Additionally, administrators of the D.A.R.E. program have tried to suppress research by the U.S. Bureau Of Justice Assistance and the Research Triangle Institute (RTI) that found "that DARE simply didn't work". A Federal judge ruled that D.A.R.E. had sought to "suppress scientific research" critical of its program and had "attempted to silence researchers at the Research Triangle Institute, editors at the '' American Journal Of Public Health '', and producers at '' Dateline NBC ''." Some reporters, like those at '' Rolling Stone '' magazine, who have written negative stories on D.A.R.E. have claimed that they were the victims of Harassment and Intimidation as a result. Sources, such as Students For Sensible Drug Policy , DRCNet , and Drugsense , have accused D.A.R.E. of distributing Misleading And Inaccurate Information about drugs and drug use. Additionally, the policy of allowing Anonymous reporting of drug use by other students, or even Parent s and Teacher s, has created much resentment and raised important issues about Student Rights to Privacy . D.A.R.E. is also cited as being very expensive for already cash-strapped schools. Many teachers and parents disagree with the approach used in the program which includes an emphasis on Self-esteem issues, and is believed to inadequately cover the risks of ''legal'' drugs, like Alcohol , Cigarettes , Over The Counter and Prescription Drug s. Many of D.A.R.E's so called 'Just Say No' messages clearly mislead many parents and teenagers, sometimes lumping all drugs from Marijuana to Heroin in the same category. Moreover, a blurring of the lines between drug use and drug abuse provides no help for some kids who sooner or later, experiment. Generally, D.A.R.E programs cater more toward discouraging Marijuana use. Parents visiting classrooms when D.A.R.E. is in session have been alarmed when watching the Role-playing exercises offered by the program. They complain that during these skits, a majority of the students wanted to play the character who was High (that role being the most fun and providing the most chance to be creatively zany). This calls into question whether D.A.R.E. really convinces its participants that drugs are harmful and unpleasant. While many local governments and School Board s have ordered further studies on the effectiveness of the program, leading to some budget cut-backs and discontinued use of some techniques, D.A.R.E. still remains widely popular, in great part thanks to police support for the program. Many have speculated that police strongly support the program not because it is effective, but rather that police enjoy the interruption of the monotony of other police work. SEE ALSO
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