21 October 2007
♥ dare to resist d.a.r.e.
It wouldn't take a lot of research to uncover my thoughts on recreational drug use; I'll be the first in line to tell you that growing up is all about having fun. I love fun! Legal or no, drugs--when used responsibly, of course--are quite possibly the number one promoter of fun.
On the opposing side of this argument is the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, better known as D.A.R.E. Founded in 1983, this colossal waste of grade-schoolers' time seeks to prevent the use of illegal drugs, gang membership, and violent behavior.
Now, I'm guessing most of my readership remembers being put through the D.A.R.E. program sometime around sixth grade. Every Thursday, we all gathered into a little circle as Officer Smith showed us a scary video about ecstasy, told us that pot was bad, and let us know that our parents were bad, bad people because they drank a glass of wine with dinner.
I was fooled; D.A.R.E. certainly pulled the wool over my innocent little eyes. "I'll never smoke!" I exclaimed as I signed the little sheet promising to remain a drug-virgin for the remainder of my days.
Six years later, I'm proud to say I've overcome the lies told by Officer Smith and his D.A.R.E. program and am now a proud haver of fun.
Now, let's talk about D.A.R.E. and why it's a load of crap.
In his 1998 article "The Dire Consequences of D.A.R.E.," Dr. William Colson, a psychologist, asserts that D.A.R.E. actually has the opposite of its desired effect on many adolescents: "as [children] get older, they become very curious about these drugs they've learned about from police officers."
Wait, you're telling me that children are actually more interested in drugs once someone's told them to stay away? Hmm...
Actually, D.A.R.E. doesn't really make much of an effort to let kids know the facts about drugs. In 2001, D.A.R.E. leader Jacob Sullum wrote in a leader's manual that he didn't "have any statistics for you. Our strongest numbers are the numbers that don't show up.”
This makes sense, because in addition to making baseless arguments, young children tend to have little understanding of the value of money, and they love wasting time! Hey, that is just like D.A.R.E., which uses about 17 hours of classroom time which could otherwise be used for actual teaching. It's also estimated that D.A.R.E., in the U.S. alone, costs about $1.34 billion. It's great to see our tax dollars hard at work.
Speaking of government imposition, let's talk about Communism! In his 1997 article "Destroying families for the sake of the Drug War, Part 1," James Bovard points out that "police and public schools are using methods reminiscent of those used by Stalin and leaving a path of devastated families in the wake," citing documented cases of D.A.R.E. training leading to children's informing against their parents in comparison to the Soviet regime policy in the 1930s of rewarding young children who betrayed their parents' criticisms of Stalin to the authorities.
So if America loves freedom, and freedom equals capitalism, and supporters of capitalism and communism are sworn enemies of one another, and communism equals drug resistance, then America must hate drug resistance!
Wow.
What I'm really trying to say is, if you love America, help us stop the war on drugs by participating actively in their recreational use.
On the opposing side of this argument is the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, better known as D.A.R.E. Founded in 1983, this colossal waste of grade-schoolers' time seeks to prevent the use of illegal drugs, gang membership, and violent behavior.
Now, I'm guessing most of my readership remembers being put through the D.A.R.E. program sometime around sixth grade. Every Thursday, we all gathered into a little circle as Officer Smith showed us a scary video about ecstasy, told us that pot was bad, and let us know that our parents were bad, bad people because they drank a glass of wine with dinner.
I was fooled; D.A.R.E. certainly pulled the wool over my innocent little eyes. "I'll never smoke!" I exclaimed as I signed the little sheet promising to remain a drug-virgin for the remainder of my days.
Six years later, I'm proud to say I've overcome the lies told by Officer Smith and his D.A.R.E. program and am now a proud haver of fun.
Now, let's talk about D.A.R.E. and why it's a load of crap.
In his 1998 article "The Dire Consequences of D.A.R.E.," Dr. William Colson, a psychologist, asserts that D.A.R.E. actually has the opposite of its desired effect on many adolescents: "as [children] get older, they become very curious about these drugs they've learned about from police officers."
Wait, you're telling me that children are actually more interested in drugs once someone's told them to stay away? Hmm...
Actually, D.A.R.E. doesn't really make much of an effort to let kids know the facts about drugs. In 2001, D.A.R.E. leader Jacob Sullum wrote in a leader's manual that he didn't "have any statistics for you. Our strongest numbers are the numbers that don't show up.”
This makes sense, because in addition to making baseless arguments, young children tend to have little understanding of the value of money, and they love wasting time! Hey, that is just like D.A.R.E., which uses about 17 hours of classroom time which could otherwise be used for actual teaching. It's also estimated that D.A.R.E., in the U.S. alone, costs about $1.34 billion. It's great to see our tax dollars hard at work.
Speaking of government imposition, let's talk about Communism! In his 1997 article "Destroying families for the sake of the Drug War, Part 1," James Bovard points out that "police and public schools are using methods reminiscent of those used by Stalin and leaving a path of devastated families in the wake," citing documented cases of D.A.R.E. training leading to children's informing against their parents in comparison to the Soviet regime policy in the 1930s of rewarding young children who betrayed their parents' criticisms of Stalin to the authorities.
So if America loves freedom, and freedom equals capitalism, and supporters of capitalism and communism are sworn enemies of one another, and communism equals drug resistance, then America must hate drug resistance!
Wow.
What I'm really trying to say is, if you love America, help us stop the war on drugs by participating actively in their recreational use.
10/21/2007
