Jonathan Saenz

ENC1101/Massey
12/9/15
I D.A.R.E you

D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) was founded in 1983 in Los Angeles,
California. It was created by ex-LAPD chief Daryl Gates with the help of the Los Angeles
Unified School District as a motive to eliminate drugs in Los Angeles. When students graduate
from the curriculum they sign a pledge to never use drugs or join a gang. Police officers then try
to instill information about the use of drugs and how they are bad for you. The curriculum lasts
for 10 weeks with children learning about the dangers of tobacco use and marijuana (dare.org).
This paper will explore the world of the curriculum called D.A.R.E. and its infectiveness.
Instead of it being an anti-drug program it is now a curriculum. The old curriculum was
not created by prevention specialists but instead it was created by police officers and teachers.
The new D.A.R.E. curriculum is called Keepin it REAL, it is different because instead of
police officers speaking most of the time about the subjects such as marijuana, tobacco, peer
pressure, and alcohol use; it will now involved interactive lessons and stories that will help kids
make smart decisions (dare.org). So far, it has reduced substance abuse in its early trials.
Children who went through the D.A.R.E. curriculum from 1983-2009 should get their
years back because the curriculum was considered ineffective. It roughly spends over 700
million dollars a year to keep a float. In an article published in 1999 from the Journal of
Consulting and Clinical Psychology, D.A.R.E. not only does not effect teenagers with

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smoking marijuana but it also lowers their self esteem too (Time Magazine). The article entails
1,002 participants going through 1-hour sessions over 17 weeks. 10 years after their 6th grade
year (1987-1988) D.A.R.E. curriculum. They were given questionnaires each grade year from
6th-10th grade, then 5 years after were given a follow-up survey. The final sample of 1,002
participants consisted of 431 (43%) men and 571 (57%) women. The average age of the
participants was 20.1 ( SD = 0.78). The racial composition of the sample was as follows: 748
(75.1%) were White, 204 (20.4%) were African American, and 44 (0.4%) were of other race or
ethnicity. 76% of the final sample had received D.A.R.E., which corresponds almost exactly to
the 75% of sixth graders who were originally exposed to D.A.R.E. (Lynam 4).
Pre-D.A.R.E. levels of use and negative outcomes on cigarette use were significantly
related to their counterparts 10 years later. There were no relations between DARE status and
cigarette use and expectancies, suggesting that D.A.R.E. had no effect on either student behavior
or expectancies. This result is the same outcome that alcohol, and marijuana had (Lynam 4).
Illicit drug use and peer pressure also had the same result (Lynam 5).The most interesting part of
the survey was that they found that the people who participated in D.A.R.E. 10 years later have a
lower self esteem than those who did not participate in the curriculum. The researcher do not
have an explanation as to why the result of low self esteem or to what caused it but that is what
the article consists of.
I personally went through the curriculum myself when I was in 5th grade and I witnessed
a police officer talk about drugs for 15 minutes and then just mess around and tell stories on
people who did drugs the other 15-25 min. When I look back at it, it was a waste of time but
during the moment it was interesting and very persuasive on us to not do drugs. Although it did

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state facts about alcohol consumption and drug use; it did not work, yes it sticks with us that
drugs are bad and smoking and drinking is a bad habit but, at the same time we are humans and
who we are and what we do is done by imitation. There is a theory by Psychologist Albert
Bandura that theorizes that we copy behaviors from models which are who we look up to. It is
called the Social Learning Theory. Basically; our friends, parents or celebrities influence our
character personalization and attitude on certain subjects. The theory stands on four things which
are: Attention (various factors increase the amount of attention paid), Retention (remembering
what you paid attention to), Reproduction (reproducing the image), and Motivation (having a
good reason to intimidate). Bandura also believed that the world and a persons behavior cause
each other. (webspace.edu)
Those theories stated clearly prove the point that just because we go through a 10 week
curriculum does not necessarily mean that just because a police officer teaches on the effects on
drugs or the outcomes of a life of drugs mean that it will shape you. Sitting in a classroom for
30-45 minutes listening to lectures or participating in scenarios does not mean that it will
permanently stick and make you say no to drugs. The only way you will say no to drugs (in
theory) is if your role model or closest friend says no and over a certain period of times you
adapt it and start saying no by yourself.
D.A.R.E. also talks about marijuana badly stating that Yet marijuana is far from safe,
despite the widespread effort to make it seem benign. Pot damages the heart and lungs, increases
the incidence of anxiety, depression and schizophrenia, and it can trigger acute psychotic
episodes. In that same paragraph it also states Many adults appear to be able to use marijuana

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with relatively little harm, but the same cannot be said of adolescents, who are about twice as
likely as adults to become addicted to marijuana (dare.org). They never state the positive from a
medical professional for example: "The evidence is overwhelming that marijuana can relieve
certain types of pain, nausea, vomiting and other symptoms caused by such illnesses as multiple
sclerosis, cancer and AIDS -- or by the harsh drugs sometimes used to treat them. And it can do
so with remarkable safety. Indeed, marijuana is less toxic than many of the drugs that physicians
prescribe every day. (Elders).
As you can see on the figure on the
left shows that the use of drugs are
increasing even though this is
Figure 1

furthermore proof that D.A.R.E.

does not work and should stop
spending millions on funding a
failed curriculum that over the
years has proven its failed results.
It is so ineffective that the U.S Department of Education has pulled the funding on the
curriculum.
The Forbidden Fruit Syndrome is also a theory is that whatever you shouldn't do
increases a persons motivation to do it. If a police officer does a lecture on how drugs are bad
and the negatives of drugs and all these things it will only increase the persons desire to do it.
Just like when God told Adam and Eve not to touch or eat the forbidden fruit, it used both the

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Forbidden Fruit Syndrome (which made them more curious) and Banduras Social Learning
Theory (when Eve ate the forbidden fruit Adam also did so).
In conclusion, the results from my research confirmed my claim of D.A.R.E.s
ineffectiveness and opened up the horizons as to why it did not work and the deep psychological
reasons supporting my claim. Ultimately, this curriculum is outdated and is as useful as a
cheeseburger without the cheese. It lacks truth on drugs and instead of scaring children and
teenagers with lies on how marijuana is addicting and has no use in this world. That will only
lead to more curiosity and lust to be able to experience the things you are not supposed to
indulge in and furthermore create a unhealthy lifestyle.

Works Cited

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Clayton, Richard. "5 Year Follow up." PBS. PBS, 1996. Web. 9 Dec. 2015.
"Equal Rights for Cannabis Consumers." Equal Rights for Cannabis Consumers. The Family
Council on Drug Awareness, 2004. Web. 9 Dec. 2015.
Filley, Dwight. "Forbidden Fruit: When Prohibition Increases the Harm It Is Supposed to
Reduce." The Independent Institute. The Independant Review, 1999. Web. 9 Dec. 2015.
Freiheit, Page. "A Critical Look at the D.A.R.E. Program and Effective Youth Programs." A
Critical Look at the D.A.R.E. Program and Effective Youth Programs. EDGE, 1999. Web.
9 Dec. 2015.
Joycelyn Elders, MD - Medical Marijuana - ProCon.org. ProConorg Headlines. Mainstream
Media Has Endorsed Medical Marijuana, 1 Oct. 2008. Web. 9 Dec. 2015.
Lynam, Donald. "Project DARE No Effects on 10 Year Follow up." Journal of Consulting and
Clinical Psychology, 1999. Web. 9 Dec. 2015.
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| Social Learning Theory | Simply Psychology. Simply Psychology, 2011. Web. 9 Dec.
2015.
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