Lake County, Indiana

DARE officers take their roles seriously and personally
nwitimes.com

The police departments in nearly every community in Lake County, Indiana have an officer who works in conjunction with the schools to bring Drug Abuse Resistance Education to area kids.

Since its foundation in Los Angeles in 1983, DARE has steadily grown and adapted to changing times, with the program now ensconced in about 75 percent of all U.S. school districts, annually reaching about 26 million children here and an additional 10 million abroad.

Widely taught in fifth-grade, DARE is a weekly course in 10 lessons that helps students recognize and resist adolescent pressures that might tempt them to experiment with drugs, alcohol and even tobacco. Role-playing situations give youngsters the opportunity to practice wise decision-making skills.

"DARE isn't about not doing drugs,'' explained Schererville DARE Officer Raul Otano.

"It's about making good choices. If you make good choices, you don't have to worry about drugs, because you're not going to choose them.''

Otano has taught DARE for five of his six years with the Schererville Police Department, following a five-year stint in Gary, where he worked in the narcotics unit. He believes officers are well received as D.A.R.E. teachers by the children they serve.

"The kids treat (the subject) with greater importance when an officer actually comes in to talk to them about it,'' he said, adding his narcotics unit experience was helpful.

"I’ve seen it firsthand and can tell them about the dangers.''

In addition to an emphasis on making good choices, Otano's program also focuses on fostering a sense of responsibility. At the beginning of the course, he gives everyone a DARE t-shirt. The students are to wear their shirts to class every week, and it's up to them to remember.

"I tell them, 'Don't blame mom. It's your responsibility to make sure you have all your materials, whether it's school books, homework or your DARE shirt.' ''

Otano keeps records, and if a student fails to wear the t-shirt three times, then he or she owes the instructor an essay. Likewise, students who consistently do their DARE homework are rewarded with a pizza party at the end of the course. Those with three or more missing assignments are not invited.

Karen Finley, who has taught fifth grade at Schererville's Homan Elementary School for 16 years, said she appreciates Otano's involved approach.

"He really wants to keep these kids off the streets and out of this stuff,'' said Finley, describing how Otano has been known to keep tabs on and pay visits to former students in middle school if he hears that they are having problems. "Follow-through is extremely important to him.''

Finley believes her students also might be more receptive to the ideas presented by Otano than they would to the same information provided at home.

"Parents can talk until they're blue in the face, but when kids take it in from someone else they respect,'' Finley thinks the message often has a better chance of getting through.

Munster's DARE program began in 1988. The town's current DARE officer, James Ghrist, was in fifth grade that year and among the program's first graduating class under the tutelage of Officer Terry Jostes.

"That's actually what inspired me to do this,'' he said. "My DARE officer was the main reason I ended up wanting to do this; to be not only a police officer, but a DARE officer.''

In addition to the 10-week fifth-grade course, Ghrist also meets with Munster's first and third graders for four, half-hour sessions, and pays a half-hour visit to kindergartners to introduce himself and the DARE concepts on their level. Further, fellow officer, Sgt. Dan Ball, presents a new middle school curriculum to eighth-grade students.

"We give the kids information on the negative health effects of using drugs and teach them how to choose the right friends, ways to say 'no,' ways to get out of sticky situations, and how to handle peer pressure,'' he explained.

"I try to make it into a personal thing. I use personal stories of situations I was in during high school and how I dealt with them. It brings me to their level, so I’m not just an adult talking down to them.”

Louise Chickie-Wolfe, a fifth grade teacher at Eads Elementary School, has worked with the Munster program for the past seven years and feels it is indispensable.

"It helps the kids to develop an early respect for the police department and see an officer as someone who will keep them safe -- someone to turn to for help and not someone to be afraid of,'' she said. "We schedule together and carve out time for Officer Ghrist, and the kids really look forward to it.''

Chickie-Wolfe particularly likes the way DARE complements the life skills curriculum taught to Eads students.

"We focus on common sense, perseverance, respect, trustworthiness, truthfulness, integrity, cooperation and friendship. Character education is very important to us,'' she explained. "DARE gives (the kids) special skills for confronting uncomfortable situations and saving face, without putting anyone down. And it equips them so nicely to deal with the temptations that are out there.''

As a former educational and behavioral consultant, Chickie-Wolfe also likes the way the role-playing situations presented in DARE prepare students for real-life problem situations.

"The kids aren't fearful. They don't think, 'What am I going to do?' They know what to do because they've practiced it.''

Chickie-Wolfe sees the success of the program in her former students who come back to visit from middle and high school, still on the A and B honor rolls and becoming fine citizens.

Ghrist feels that it is crucial to convey to children the importance of avoiding alcohol and tobacco, as experimenting with these substances often is the first step toward future drug use.

"I talk about how alcohol isn't some right of passage every kid has to go through, and I let them know the dangerous side of it, the drunken-driving arrests and accidents,'' he said, adding the majority of older students is not drinking and engaging in dangerous behavior, even if the younger ones perceive them to be.

In the 10th week of class, Ghrist brings in DARE role models -- high school students who have made wise decisions and have chosen friends -- to give personal testimonials. He also runs an essay contest in which students discuss what they have learned.

Upon Munster's DARE course completion, students and their parents enjoy a graduation ceremony with a pizza party and a visit by the DARE mascot, Daren the Lion. Additionally, graduates make a pledge to remain drug free.

Despite the program's longevity, questions have been raised over time as to DARE's ultimate effectiveness.

In response, the nonprofit DARE America began testing a new curriculum developed through the University of Akron's Adolescent Substance Abuse Prevention Study. Out went the old classroom model of an officer lecturing to students from behind a podium, and in came the teaching strategies utilized widely today, including role-playing and team work.

Launched in 2003, the new DARE approach is being tested and evaluated during a five-year period.

SUBSTANCE ABUSE WARNING SIGNS

Changes in behavior, including uncharacteristic mood swings and severe behavior issues

A drop in grades

A sudden change of friends

Isolation, whether alone or in a small, restrictive group

Withdrawal from favorite activities; a general lack of interest in everything

Change in appearance, dressing differently or paying less attention to hygiene and looks

ONLINE RESOURCES

DEA Drug Information

http://www.dea.gov/concern/concern.htm

Lake County Indiana Drug Free Alliance

http://www.drugfreealliance.com/

Parents: The Anti-Drug

http://www.theantidrug.com/

Kids Health

http://www.kidshealth.org

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