Drugs, Children and D.A.R.E.

I am a strong supporter of DARE. If one child, who is on the fence about drugs is tipped in the way of abstinence, I believe it is worth the effort and money. The Dare program does a great job of educating youth about drugs. It gives the children the opportunity to see the drugs so they know what to watch out for. Dare educates them about the effects of the various drugs and the problems that accompany them. However, I do have one recommendation on how to improve DARE.

The DARE program tells children that drugs and alcohol are bad and people who use substances are bad. I believe this is all too simplistic, even for children. When children see people drinking and laughing, or it is their parent that is using substances, or it is their physician that gives them drugs, the 'substances are bad' message is counter to their experience. A parent is not necessarily bad because they drink or use drugs. To differentiate between describing a parent's behavior as bad versus saying that the parent is bad, is a fine point, but an important one to make for children. Anyone working with youth knows that once they catch you in a lie, you have lost them. They will not listen to the rest of the message.

Children who are exposed to people drinking or doing drugs may see a vast array of emotions and behavior. The unpredictability of people's reaction to substances exposes children to rage and violence, as well as laughing and silliness. Finally, we know that today, one cannot necessarily trust all the medications the doctor gives you. Drugs and alcohol are complicated enough for adults, how can we expect our children to understand them. So what can we tell our children about substances?

When I was young, I was given a profound message. I can remember sitting in my kitchen while my mother talked about heroin. She told me that if I tried drugs, I would love them. I would love them so much that I would give up everything for them. I would give up my money, my health, my family, She convinced that that if I tried heroin, I would love it so much that I would give up my integrity and even my life. I understood what she was saying I understood how much power love would have over me. I found this much scarier than being told "drugs" were bad. Bad is often attractive. Bad would have aroused my curiosity. If I had been told they were bad, I could have been much more interested in finding out more or experimenting.

So if you are interested in giving children a strong message about drugs consider telling them that they will love using drugs and alcohol. They may love them to death.