City of Fulton DARE
Program
The
City of Fulton Police Department has been teaching the DARE
program for nearly 20 years. I am Officer Lennet Whitmore, a
specially trained officer involved in teaching the 10 week
program to 5th graders in the Fulton City School District.
There were 13 fifth grade classes in the 2008-2009 school
year which consisted of three classes in Lanigan Elementary
School, three classes in Granby Elementary School, three
classes in Volney Elementary School and four classes in
Fairgrieve Elementary School.
Since the beginning of the program there have been
thousands of DARE graduates from the Fulton City School
District.
DARE is an excellent example of Community Policing at
its best. The
DARE Program brings schools, parents and law enforcement
together to combat a serious problem in today's society,
drug use by our children.
DARE has been a success in the Fulton Community with
positive comments from School Officials, Students, Parents
and Community Leaders.
The DARE program is aimed at Alcohol, Tobacco and
Marijuana, which are often referred to as the
"gateway" drugs.
These drugs are the most commonly used by our young
people and the theory is that if the young people will
reject these gateway drugs, the use of the more illicit
drugs will be significantly reduced.
Almost all users of illicit drugs, including Cocaine,
Opiates and Methamphetamines admit to having started out
using Alcohol, Tobacco or Marijuana in their high school
years.
DARE is more than just a drug awareness program.
DARE is a life skills program which promotes good
decision making. Teaching
students about the consequences of their actions ahead of
time may encourage them to make appropriate decisions and
help them avoid the pressures of today’s society.
Many of these lessons are taught through skits and
role playing. The
students not only learn how to say no but also how to think
on their feet. DARE
teaches students how to stand up to peer pressure and feel
good about it.
In these difficult economic times many school
districts have been forced to drop their DARE programs.
This is not an indication that the DARE program is
not successful. A
national survey done by the National Institute on Drug Abuse
indicates that overall drug use among teens and adolescents
continue to decline. Marijuana use is down almost 20% since
the 1990's. DARE cannot take full responsibility for the
decline in drug use but the DARE program and other programs
like it have undoubtedly made a significant contribution to
it.
We are very fortunate that the City of Fulton has
continued to support the DARE program.
We are proud of our DARE program and can boast that
we are one of the few school districts on Oswego County that
still offer the program.
I believe that education is the first step in
combating drug use. As
I tell the students in class....Knowledge is Power.
For other information on drug use trends, log onto the Monitoring
the Future website or the NIDA website.
Officer Lennet C.
Whitmore
DARE Officer
Fulton Police Department
