Introduction
Youth drug abuse has become a big problem today. There are reasons why youth use alcohol and drugs and this will be discussed in this paper. This essay will also study if Drug Abuse Resistance Education program is helpful in decreasing alcohol and drug use.
D.A.R.E.
This program is to educate youth about the consequences of alcohol and drugs. It has lessons, activities, and approaches for anger management and physical violence prevention for the youth to concentrate on.
As I see it, boredom and depression are the major reasons why youth use drugs. They are mostly left home alone doing nothing, so they tend to use drugs.
According to Peter Rockholz, an expert on adolescent substance abuse, kids were interested and excited when they discussed various effects of drugs. He sensed that it may possibly increase drug experimentation among kids.
In my opinion, this program is ineffective because studies found that youth who graduated on this program are more inclined to use marijuana (Glass, 1997).
DARE has produced changes to its program. Every revision was proven to be as ineffective as the first one. The same handbook is use (Hanson, 2007). As I see it, it is a method that confuses and distracts the community.
Conclusion
DARE makes use of social approach for drug prevention. This method emphasizes youth's refusal ability so they can fight social pressures to use drugs. It also develops common social capabilities to help avoid drug use. This program was built for children, fifth and sixth grades before they try drugs with their peers. However, planning, development, and continued efforts should be focused on this program to produce significant effects.
References
Glass, S. (1997, March 3). The New Republic: DON'T YOU D.A.R.E. Retrieved from http://druglibrary.net/schaffer/media/txtglass030397.html
Ngo, P. (2010, April 27). Retrieved from http://www.usfsm.edu/academics/cas/capstone/2009-2010/criminology/woods%20-%20the%20d.a.r.e%20program.pdf
Rockholz, P. (2010, February 19). Sunday debate: Is DARE effective? 'Overwhelming evidence' shows DARE has no lasting impact - NewsTimes. Retrieved from http://www.newstimes.com/opinion/article/Sunday-debate-Is-DARE-effective-Overwhelming-372445.php
