FDLE Turns Its Back On D.A.R.E.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) is preparing to turn their back on the children of Florida. The proposed elimination of a mere $376,000 from the FDLE budget will shut down the Florida State Training Center for D.A.R.E., which is responsible for the training of new D.A.R.E. officers, providing curriculum and supplemental lesson updates, background checks and interviews of D.A.R.E. officer candidates, random on-site checks of local D.A.R.E. programs, and coordinating the efforts of nearly 600 D.A.R.E. officers in Florida. Cutting D.A.R.E. from the FDLE budget is short sighted.

D.A.R.E. represents one-tenth of 1 percent of FDLE's budget and places the children of Florida in peril.
The core mission of any law enforcement agency is to protect people. Can you think of anything more important than protecting the most vulnerable citizens of Florida, our children?

Nationwide we lose 50,000 people to illegal drugs and drug violence every year. D.A.R.E. not only provides resistance skills and teaches decision-making skills, but now has timely supplemental lessons on gangs, bullying, prescription drug abuse, Internet safety, and much more. Providing safety lessons for kindergarten through fourth grade, core lessons for fifth and seventh grades; D.A.R.E. also provides community presentations and new OTC/Rx Drug Abuse lessons for elementary, middle, high, parents, and the community.

D.A.R.E. works! There are 18 studies since 1997 showing D.A.R.E. is effective, including a study by the National Medical Association showing D.A.R.E. graduates are five times less likely to begin smoking than non-D.A.R.E. graduates.

The foundation of the D.A.R.E. curricula includes science-based principles of prevention, as well as age appropriate and reading level appropriate material. All curricula are written by a national panel of curriculum and prevention experts. D.A.R.E. students see brain scans showing effects of alcohol, tobacco, and cocaine. They learn how to make good decisions through the "DARE Decision making Model"; decision-making skills that will be used the rest of their life. The D.A.R.E. workbook only costs 89 cents. It costs over $25,000 a year to incarcerate a criminal. It's easy to see which choice is most cost effective.

D.A.R.E. is in 91 percent of Florida school districts, and according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse's Monitoring the Future Study, teenage drug use continues to fall, decreasing 19 percent over the last four years. D.A.R.E. works and we are winning! There is substantial proof that D.A.R.E. is working and saves lives. This is hardly the time to declare defeat in the face of victory or look for holes in the budget as a justification for retreat.

Furthermore, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is currently conducting a five-year study involving over 19,000 students from 83 high schools and 122 middle schools. The study, now in it's fourth year, shows very positive results as more students decided against using drugs, more students found drug use socially inappropriate and believed fewer peers used drugs, fewer students reported intent to use inhalants, and more students learned how to refuse drugs.

In quoting a 2005 report from the University of Akron's principal researcher, Dr. Zili Sloboda, to the Florida Commissioner of Education, she said, "Simply put, there is no comparable national prevention delivery network like D.A.R.E. in the United States. The existence of D.A.R.E. is an opportunity to bring the latest prevention to millions of children and adolescents in both a timely and a quality fashion."

D.A.R.E. has also put together a Scientific Board, Educational Board and Law Enforcement Executive Board to provide guidance and direction. The National Conference now has learning tracts for D.A.R.E. Officers, SROs and Educators. The D.A.R.E. website, www.dare.com, receives over 19 million hits per month. It provides valuable information to not just D.A.R.E. officers, but anyone seeking reliable and timely information on drug prevention and family resources. There is a special "kids page" designed to entertain, educate and challenge children.

On behalf of the children of communities all over Florida, D.A.R.E. officers are asking concerned parents and community leaders to contact Governor Crist and Senate President Pruitt, and Speaker Rubio, and your senator and representative. Ask them to stop the FDLE from cutting the D.A.R.E. program. FDLE's quick and senseless decision to end their support of D.A.R.E. is a dangerous game. This decision will negatively affect the future of our children.

Governor Crist can be e-mailed at wwew.myflorida.gov. Once on the homepage, click on "Contact Governor Crist" to send your e-mail. House Speaker Mar Rubio's fax is (850)488-1456. Senate President Ken Pruitt can be emailed at Pruitt.kenweb@flsenate.gov.

Denise Greimsley, District Representative, can be reached at 863-385-5251.

For further information contact your local D.A.R.E. offiers.

Monica Sauls is a sergeant with the Highlands County Sheriff's Office and a D.A.R.E. officer.