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CNN Live Today
'Daily Dose'
Aired February 11, 2003 - 11:29 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: In our "Daily Dose" of health news today, educating kids about the danger of drugs. A new study looks at the effectiveness that a popular program in schools used around the country actually is showing.
CNN medical news correspondent Elizabeth Cohen checks in here with some results of this study.
Any surprises here at all?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, definitely. I mean, this is the most popular antidrug education used in the United States, and what the study found was that it didn't work. The DARE Program is used in 80 percent of U.S. School districts; 26 million kids participate in it every year. The study looked at seventh graders. They compared kids who took DARE, compared them to kids who didn't do the DARE program, and they found that both groups were just as likely as each other to use drugs. And so the conclusion was that these researchers was, was that the program just wasn't working.
Now DARE has done its own studies, and they say that the program does work.
HARRIS: Shouldn't be surprised to hear them advocate themselves. But this has got to come as quite a big surprise to a number of school officials and parents as well, who have been hearing about it and believing in this program for so long.
But If that doesn't work, any idea, or is there any proof yet about what does work with kids?
COHEN: The study found a program called DARE Plus. It's kind of like DARE yet more did work, only with boys. It's interesting, but I'll get to that in a minute, but the DARE Plus program is an enhanced version of the DARE Program. The DARE Program is just police officers talking to kids.
With DARE Plus, you have parental involvement, you have community involvement, you have peer-led activities, so the kids are leading the activities. They send postcards home to the parents to tell them about the DARE program. So it's DARE Plus more. And they found that did work for boys to help keep them off drugs. The reason it didn't work for girls, they say they think the in-school part of it was police officers lecturing to kids. The police officers were always male, so they maybe the boys saw them as role models more than the girls did. Studies show boys take to that program more easily, that kind of lecture format. Girls want give and take. Girls want to talk and discuss. And boys will hear a lecture more easily.
HARRIS: Could also be boys can be scared to death of cops, too.
COHEN: Absolutely.
HARRIS: Well, let me change the focus, then maybe flip the tables and go from glass half empty/half full to asking whether or not we even need a glass. What's the information now about whether or not there is a need for more of these programs to begin with?
COHEN: Definitely educators see a need. Kids are still using drugs. Some of those numbers have leveled off, but kids are still using drugs. As a matter of fact, there's a study out today that when they did a poll of teenagers and they said, do you think that it is dangerous to experiment with the drug ecstasy? Most said no, they didn't think that it was dangerous at all. And ecstasy is responsible for many emergency room visits. I mean, it's a dangerous drug. So there still is the need out there. Kids are operating under a lot of misconceptions.
HARRIS: Good deal. Well, thanks for clearing that up for us.
COHEN: Sounds good.
HARRIS: Elizabeth Cohen.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired February 11, 2003 - 11:29 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: In our "Daily Dose" of health news today, educating kids about the danger of drugs. A new study looks at the effectiveness that a popular program in schools used around the country actually is showing.
CNN medical news correspondent Elizabeth Cohen checks in here with some results of this study.
Any surprises here at all?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, definitely. I mean, this is the most popular antidrug education used in the United States, and what the study found was that it didn't work. The DARE Program is used in 80 percent of U.S. School districts; 26 million kids participate in it every year. The study looked at seventh graders. They compared kids who took DARE, compared them to kids who didn't do the DARE program, and they found that both groups were just as likely as each other to use drugs. And so the conclusion was that these researchers was, was that the program just wasn't working.
Now DARE has done its own studies, and they say that the program does work.
HARRIS: Shouldn't be surprised to hear them advocate themselves. But this has got to come as quite a big surprise to a number of school officials and parents as well, who have been hearing about it and believing in this program for so long.
But If that doesn't work, any idea, or is there any proof yet about what does work with kids?
COHEN: The study found a program called DARE Plus. It's kind of like DARE yet more did work, only with boys. It's interesting, but I'll get to that in a minute, but the DARE Plus program is an enhanced version of the DARE Program. The DARE Program is just police officers talking to kids.
With DARE Plus, you have parental involvement, you have community involvement, you have peer-led activities, so the kids are leading the activities. They send postcards home to the parents to tell them about the DARE program. So it's DARE Plus more. And they found that did work for boys to help keep them off drugs. The reason it didn't work for girls, they say they think the in-school part of it was police officers lecturing to kids. The police officers were always male, so they maybe the boys saw them as role models more than the girls did. Studies show boys take to that program more easily, that kind of lecture format. Girls want give and take. Girls want to talk and discuss. And boys will hear a lecture more easily.
HARRIS: Could also be boys can be scared to death of cops, too.
COHEN: Absolutely.
HARRIS: Well, let me change the focus, then maybe flip the tables and go from glass half empty/half full to asking whether or not we even need a glass. What's the information now about whether or not there is a need for more of these programs to begin with?
COHEN: Definitely educators see a need. Kids are still using drugs. Some of those numbers have leveled off, but kids are still using drugs. As a matter of fact, there's a study out today that when they did a poll of teenagers and they said, do you think that it is dangerous to experiment with the drug ecstasy? Most said no, they didn't think that it was dangerous at all. And ecstasy is responsible for many emergency room visits. I mean, it's a dangerous drug. So there still is the need out there. Kids are operating under a lot of misconceptions.
HARRIS: Good deal. Well, thanks for clearing that up for us.
COHEN: Sounds good.
HARRIS: Elizabeth Cohen.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
