According to an article published in the August 1999 issue of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, DARE not only did not affect teenagers’ rate of experimentation with drugs, but also have actually lowered their self-esteem (Time 2001). The study, called “Project DARE: No Effects at 10-year Follow-up,” bluntly deconstructs every claim the program makes (Time 2001). More than 1,000 10 years-olds enrolled in DARE classes were given a survey about drug use and self-esteem, and then, a decade later, the same group filled out the same questionnaire (Time 2001). The findings were grim: 20 years-old who had DARE classes were no less likely to have smoked marijuana or cigarettes, drunk alcohol, used illicit drugs like cocaine or heroin, or caved in to peer pressure than kids who never been exposed to DARE. But that was not all. The article states, “DARE status in the sixth grade was negatively related to self-esteem at age 20, indicating that individuals who were exposed to DARE the sixth grade had lower levels of self-esteem 10 years later.” Another study, performed at the University of

Time: (1994). DARE Bedeviled. Retrieved on April 6, 2003, from http://www.time.com

More than 30 studies of the DARE program have been conducted, and early in 2001, after increasingly vocal criticism relating to the program’s effectiveness, DARE leaders brought out a new program (DARE 2003). Supported through a $13.7 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the new program is for middle-school and high-school students only and is designed to reduce the use of tobacco, alcohol, and drugs as well as to prevent violence (DARE 2003). The Ever-present DARE now reaches more than 36 million pupils in 80 percent of the nation’s school districts (U.S. News &World Report 2001). The new and improved DARE will debut in 80 high schools and 176 middle schools (U.S. News & World Report 2001). The question is whether it will work better than the old program. The challenge is huge.

As stated in the Knight-Ridder Newspaper, sixty-one percent of U.S. high school-age teens and forty percent of middle school-age kids say drugs are used, kept, and sold in their schools, according to a survey released by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse. The most recent student responses about drug use in schools were based on a survey of 1,000 students (Knight-Ridder 2001). It was part of a broader survey, “Malignant Neglect: Substance Abuse and America’s Schools,” based on 10,000 random telephone interviews nationwide over six years with parents, teachers, and students, coupled with reviews of outside research on effectiveness of conventional drug abuse-education programs. The center’s report cites two widely reported outside studies that give DARE a low success rate (Knight-Ridder 2001). The center says one-to-one programs pairing troubled youths with advisers are more effective in deterring drug use.

Some topics in this essay:
Los Angeles, World Report, Dr Gay, DARE Effects, Retrieved April, Vegas Review, Megan Ohls, Dr Gay’s, America’s Schools”, Driving MADD, retrieved april, dare program, buzz 1995, las vegas, los angeles, dare 2003, las vegas review, vegas review, lundman 2001, april 6 2003, review 1994, 6 2003, retrieved april 6, vegas review 1994, retrieved april 9,