When I went through school DARE was just getting started. Everybody was jumping behind it as a way to target kids right in the classroom early-on and say "Don't do drugs." However, DARE has been an awesome failure. Some of the buggest potheads that I know sat right next to me in those classes, parroting the lines that "Officer Jim" told us.
I believe that this program will have similar results; Little Suzie says "I'll never download, that's bad" at school then goes home and gets the whole new Britney Spears
The success of the program isn't measured in how many kids failed to learn from it. The success is measured in how many kids did learn from it.
Drug use in America's high schools is at an all-time low.
You can even legally swap material, as long as it's not for commercial gain, said Seltzer. ''People tape movies on their VCRs and swap it with friends without getting arrested for piracy," she said.
Yeah, about that. That's not actually true. The second part is, I mean: people do pirate movies without getting arrested for it. But the first part is false. Just because you're not getting hauled off in leg-irons doesn't mean it's not against the law.
What's the diff in having 3 friends that swap movies off HBO or 3 Billion friends swapping some AC/DC albums?
The "diff," obviously, is a matter of degrees. Society can stand a little bit of unlawful activity. Too much of it, however, results in the collapse of the law.
It's the same as asking what the "diff" is between having a small infection under a fingernail and a massive, systemic case of sepsis overwhelming your entire body. It's all the same bacteria, right? What's the big deal?
The real test of DARE's effectiveness is the difference in drug use between schools using the program and schools not using the program. The only real data on this that I know of shows that DARE is not effective [ndsn.org].
I sat through DARE. As someone who has NEVER used illegal drugs, (though plenty of my friends did), I thought it was a waste of time. My friends did too, though for a different reason.
The truth is simple: if you aren't into drugs, chances are you think "who cares, I don't do em anyways" and if you are you think, "that moron doesn't know jack!"
Personally, I think it's fallacious to think that these programs have that much influence when presented to large groups.
If you want to change someones attitude about something, small (2-4) groups work best. It is also best to have a peer do the talking, not some cop.
The same applies to the MPAA. If they want to change kids attitudes, they have to get kids who care, and are considered cool by the target group.
This is hard, because those mostly likely to get movies are not likely to think anyone who is against it is cool without some serious groundwork.
"The success is measured in how many kids did learn from it."
A *LOT* of kids learned from DARE. They just didn't learn the lesson their teachers and the police expected. The course may be diffrent now, but back when I was an elementary and middle-school student (10-15 years ago), the emphasis was on shocking the kids into obedience, not giving them real information. The first lesson we learned was that drugs will mess you up, destroy your life, and eventually kill you. Then we had friends who smoked a little weed and didn't get addicted, messed up, or killed. Then we learned the real lesson of DARE: Our teachers, our school principals, the police, Nancy Reagan, and that girl on TV with the frying pan lied to us all through our childhood.
Just like DARE! (Score:5, Insightful)
I believe that this program will have similar results; Little Suzie says "I'll never download, that's bad" at school then goes home and gets the whole new Britney Spears
Re:Just like DARE! (Score:1, Redundant)
The success of the program isn't measured in how many kids failed to learn from it. The success is measured in how many kids did learn from it.
Drug use in America's high schools is at an all-time low.
You can even legally swap material, as long as it's not for commercial gain, said Seltzer. ''People tape movies on their VCRs and swap it with friends without getting arrested for piracy," she said.
Yeah, about that. That's not actually true. The second part is, I mean: people do pirate movies without getting arrested for it. But the first part is false. Just because you're not getting hauled off in leg-irons doesn't mean it's not against the law.
What's the diff in having 3 friends that swap movies off HBO or 3 Billion friends swapping some AC/DC albums?
The "diff," obviously, is a matter of degrees. Society can stand a little bit of unlawful activity. Too much of it, however, results in the collapse of the law.
It's the same as asking what the "diff" is between having a small infection under a fingernail and a massive, systemic case of sepsis overwhelming your entire body. It's all the same bacteria, right? What's the big deal?
Re:Just like DARE! (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Just like DARE! (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Just like DARE! (Score:5, Insightful)
I sat through DARE. As someone who has NEVER used illegal drugs, (though plenty of my friends did), I thought it was a waste of time. My friends did too, though for a different reason.
The truth is simple: if you aren't into drugs, chances are you think "who cares, I don't do em anyways" and if you are you think, "that moron doesn't know jack!"
Personally, I think it's fallacious to think that these programs have that much influence when presented to large groups.
If you want to change someones attitude about something, small (2-4) groups work best. It is also best to have a peer do the talking, not some cop.
The same applies to the MPAA. If they want to change kids attitudes, they have to get kids who care, and are considered cool by the target group.
This is hard, because those mostly likely to get movies are not likely to think anyone who is against it is cool without some serious groundwork.
DARE is a crock... (Score:4, Insightful)
A *LOT* of kids learned from DARE. They just didn't learn the lesson their teachers and the police expected. The course may be diffrent now, but back when I was an elementary and middle-school student (10-15 years ago), the emphasis was on shocking the kids into obedience, not giving them real information. The first lesson we learned was that drugs will mess you up, destroy your life, and eventually kill you. Then we had friends who smoked a little weed and didn't get addicted, messed up, or killed. Then we learned the real lesson of DARE: Our teachers, our school principals, the police, Nancy Reagan, and that girl on TV with the frying pan lied to us all through our childhood.