The challenge
Youth drug use was rising and schools wanted a way to prevent it.
The case
Created in 1983 by the Los Angeles Police Department and LA Unified School District, D.A.R.E. sent uniformed officers into classrooms to teach a lecture-based curriculum on drug facts, self-esteem and resisting peer pressure. It spread to about three-quarters of US school districts. A meta-analysis found its effects on later drug use were small and not statistically significant: students' knowledge and attitudes improved in the short term, but their behavior did not change. In 2009 D.A.R.E. switched to an evidence-based curriculum, keepin' it REAL.
Why it didn't work
Popularity and political support kept an ineffective program going for decades. Interactive, skills-based prevention works better than lectures, and D.A.R.E.'s eventual switch shows a program can change course.
Sources
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