Community DARE

School’s out for another summer and graduates are celebrating their temporary freedom from the classroom. How they celebrate, however, could largely be determined by what they learned in class, specifically, in the class presented by Drug Abuse Resistance Education officers. Residents owe them, and the people and businesses that support them, a word of thanks.

DARE in this region had 1,000 graduates this year, as it has each year for the past several. Penobscot County Sheriff’s Deputy Tim Majerske points out that the program not only teaches children how to say no to drugs but opens up lines of communication between the public and law enforcement that otherwise would not exist. His observations are borne out by a study last year of 3,150 Ohio students who were graduated from the DARE program.

Researchers at Ohio State University found that students who completed two or more semesters of DARE were 50 percent less likely to become high-risk abusers of drugs and alcohol, compared with students who were not exposed. The researchers were careful not to conclude there was a causal link between the lower incidence of abuse and the program, but they did add that DARE graduates had significantly more respect for police officers than did their peers without the DARE training. More informally, a survey taken during the last several years at the Holbrook School in East Holden has found a steady decrease in the percentage of children trying alcohol, concurrent with the DARE program.

One of the important things about DARE is that it is a community effort. Not only do schools have to believe in it, but local businesses need to join in, too. This year, for instance, the Penobscot program was helped by businesses such as Great Skates and Family Fun Lanes in Bangor and Heritage Bowling Center in Hermon, which gave free passes to graduates. Radio personalities Mike Dow and John Mike Elliot from 107.3 helped out at the graduation party.

Participation by the community sends an unmistakable message to students: Their lives and their futures are important to the people around them. They have the chance to make good choices, and those choices will be supported. With so many people casting about for ways to help connect students to their communities, here is a program that works, with lots of help from local people.