I love two things about DARE:
Their mascot was an anthro lion.
They did more to get kids ON drugs than they did to get them OFF drugs.
And then there's former President George Bush, doing his part with Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue.
Totally made drugs more appealing.
Why did Gordon give up on wearing clothes when he came to Earth?
I almost got killed on a police ride along. Wait, didn't love that part.
Mmmkay
And told you to go home and ask your parents about their drug experiences.
One of my sociology professors was involved in a project to assess the effectiveness of DARE. She found that it was slightly effective with one group -- 8th grade boys.
Of course, her findings didn't fit the 80s narrative, so her study was shelved and the LAPD was happy.
That’s the same logic people use to remove things like sex ed, discussion of lgbtq, or even racism use.
If we don’t talk about the thing then it won’t happen, or, if we talk about the thing then the kids will want to or know how to do it.
DARE was pretty stupid, though. And i’m sure I have a DARE labeled pencil or two in the bottom of a box somewhere still.
I was 100% the target audience for DARE lol. I remember my classmates asking me what drugs I wanted to try from the lesson and I would be so confused because the way the officer spoke of the effects made taking them seem very scary to me.
I'm now a big pothead so maybe I'm not that much of an outlier.
Just out of curiosity, what changed your mind and how old were you when that change happened?
Honestly, I think just talking to people who used cannabis or other substances that was part of the DARE program (which included alcohol and tobacco) was a major factor.
When I was 17, I meet a lot of people who used those substances regularly, and hearing their experiences with it made me realize that the effects that the program portrayed each drug having was total BS. What stuck with me was how different of a drug weed was made out to be than how it affected people in real life. The DARE program made it seem like it was meth in plant form, but all I was hearing was stories of people feeling like they are floating, enjoying movies, and eating snacks.
It peaked my curiosity and from then on I was super interested in trying it. Plus, that it was completely legal at this time too, so most of the programs deterrents for buying drugs in general became redundant.
Let's not forget the drug-induced fever dream that is Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue.
Complete with intro by George and Barbara Bush.
I'm always amazed at the two sided nature of America
Claiming one thing and holding the moral high ground above everyone else ..... while selling their soul to the devil and destroying entire countries without a bit of remorse or responsibility.
Bush and his wife talking about the dangers of drugs in America .... all while the CIA was working with South American drug cartels to initiate the explosion of the Crack Cocaine epidemic of the 90s .... look up the story of Gary Webb and the work he did as a journalist to uncover it all.
I… don’t remember that.
Got a YouTube link?
I remember in highschool once, someone got caught with weed, so the school got the cops to come in and check everyone's bags, I always had a bong and a small bag of weed in my bag, because I was a dumbass stoner kid, but the universe had my back and I was sick for the 3 days this all happened, I got back to school and was the only one who didn't get screwed over.
They did a dog walk of the parking lot once at my school and caught an art teacher and an administrator.
It was hilarious.
That's because you have to try to know why you cannot do it. You can say all the words you want that you cannot do something but a teenager won't learn unless you give it to them and demonstrate the debilitating properties.
My school of kids education is by practice and not by empty boring talking for hours. We talk about drugs? Sure here are all the samples see why exactly they are bad on your own.
Kids do not learn just because you talk to them 50th time the same thing, they learn when they touch, taste and smell.
This is why I aspire to be a future educator, because my methods are actually working as opposed to the shitty current standard that gave us flat earthers and anti vaxxers.
Earth is flat? We call Bezos and do a trip to space for 4 worst behaving kids. Vaccines are a hoax? We unleash the smallpox and showcase that these kids who vaccinated survived.
A collection of some classic Lemmy memes for your enjoyment
