As parents, caregivers and other important adults in the lives of young people, we know talking with our children about drugs is an important responsibility. However, many of us question the wisdom of the “just say no” anti-drug messages that does not fit with the complex lives our children lead. We as parents must make it be known to our kids that no matter what… they can have an open and honest conversation with us.
Putting safety first requires that we provide our young people with credible information and resources. We also need to teach our children how to identify and handle problems with alcohol and other drugs—if and when they occur—and how to get help and support.
Parents and educators need to abandon these failed anti-drug programs based on scare tactics, misinformation and zero-tolerance policies, and instead, focus on engaging youth in Open and honest discussions about drugs and the risks associated with drug use. Effective drug education requires an interactive environment in which students feel free to ask questions and raise concerns, without fear of judgment or punishment. Students need and deserve effective education and counseling that provide accurate, non-judgmental, science-based information about drugs.
Educators should produce an atmosphere of trust with their students to discuss questions or concerns they may have and the harms associated with drug use, not try to scare them into abstinence by bringing in the police. When schools identify students with substance use problems, they should provide special assistance and counseling to these young people and engage them in restorative practices
No parent wants his or her child to use drugs. We urge young people to avoid alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, but national surveys show us that substance use is common among high school students and most young people accept it as part of teenage social life. If we ignore the reality of teen drug use and fail to provide young people with honest, informative drug education, we increase their risk of falling into abusive and dangerous patterns.
We need reality-based approaches to drug education at home and in school that have open and honest dialogue around the risks and consequences of drug use. Students need drug education that respects their intelligence and gives them the tools to stay safe and healthy. Clearly, students, parents, and educators need to work together to address the problems that drug abuse presents to schools and communities. Drug education programs should help students make safe and sensible lifestyle decisions.
Currently, the largest such program is the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program. Without a doubt it had good intentions, and even though it has been called ineffective by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of the Surgeon General, National Academy of Sciences, and Government. The science shows that D.A.R.E. is not effective in achieving its stated goal of reducing student drug abuse.
Perhaps it should be no wonder that this program would be doomed to failure. It is built on fear and distrust between students, parents, educators, doctors, and law enforcement As those of us know, who went through it, the D.A.R.E program employs uniformed police officers – not health care professionals – to teach students about drugs. Rather than providing students with science-based information about drugs, the students are scared with horror stories about drug addiction. They are told to avoid drugs because of the legal and disciplinary consequences of their use, by the same people who will send them to jail if they are caught.
It undermines the open relationship necessary for students to ask candid questions about drugs or their drug problems for fear that they might be reported to law enforcement authorities.
It has taught the youth to be afraid to speak openly with there doctors, educators, and parents about drugs fear of being incarcerated, and shows distrust towards our law enforcement.
The D.A.R.E abstinence-only approach fails to effectively reach students who have used or are at high risk of using drugs. It doesn’t provide a fallback strategy for students who don’t “just say no.” This flawed program can’t be improved by making superficial changes to its curriculum and calling it “New D.A.R.E.” The federal governments $120 million a year anti-drug ad campaign has repeatedly been shown to be a failure in encouraging young people to stay away from drugs. In addition the federal government has wasted billions of taxpayer dollars on, exaggerated often laughable, anti-drug media campaigns that have failed entirely to curb youth drug use.
Not surprisingly, in recent years the General Accounting Office, the Department of Education, and the U.S. Surgeon General have come to recognize the ineffectiveness of the D.A.R.E. program. Yet local D.A.R.E. programs still receive federal funds (directly or indirectly) and the (SDFSCA) Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities Act still promotes drug education policies which break down the crucial trust between students and their educators needed for effective drug education.
It is time to stop wasting tax dollars on fear-based anti-drug advertising campaigns and instead channel resources into providing young people with honest information about safety, risk and treatment.
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