LETTER OF THE WEEK
D.A.R.E. PROGRAM
I am writing in response to your article about the “Council unveils cuts to budget” on the June 2 front page. I feel like you are misrepresenting the facts about Emily Naeole-Beason’s budget cut request. The D.A.R.E. program is not an educational program. It is a propaganda program aimed at young schoolchildren. The police are spreading misinformation and what happens is once the children learn that the police lie about drugs, they cannot trust them about other issues.
The D.A.R.E. program has been cited as being ineffective by the U.S. Department of Education, in addition to the U.S. Surgeon General and the U.S. General Accountability Office. The DOE has banned federal funding of the D.A.R.E. program in school. I feel you need to print a correction immediately stating the truth about the D.A.R.E. program. And I, for one, am personally thankful to Emily for standing up to end this wasteful use of county funds. The police should be here to protect and serve us, not lobby for the perpetuation of the “Drug War.”
Sara Steiner
Pahoa
Pubdate: Fri, 4 Jun 2010
Source: Hawaii Tribune Herald (Hilo, HI)