DARE program's success is difficult to measure
By BARRY HALVORSON news@leader-news.com

While there are plenty of statistics concerning drug arrests, confiscations and convictions, the numbers on how many of Wharton County's students avoided drugs because of the D.A.R.E. program is a little harder to pin down.

"I get asked all the time about how many kids we've prevented from doing drugs," Wharton County Sheriff Jess Howell said. "Who can actually say. But I know in my heart of hearts that we made a significant difference with the D.A.R.E. program."

Drug Abuse Resistance Education, the official D.A.R.E. title, is a national program introduced in Los Angeles in 1983 and offered in Wharton County since the fall of 1992. Since its introduction here, some 18,500 students have been reached by the program, according to the sheriff's department.

The program rates so highly with Howell that he said it ranks higher on his list of priorities than the local narcotics task force.

"I'll take D.A.R.E. over the task force any day," he said. "The task force addresses the issue after the fact. I'd just as soon not have people having those problems in the first place."

The original D.A.R.E. officers in Wharton County were Danny Marek, now the sheriff's office lieutenant, and Jeff Andrejcak, who is still the department's D.A.R.E. officer, teaching the course in Boling and Louise school districts.

Until the East Bernard ISD was dropped from the program this year, the program had always had two deputies assigned to the three schools.

After Marek moved up in rank, Bill Holt served in that role. He is still with the sheriff's office as a patrol deputy.

"It's something that gets into your blood," Holt said. "I might have different duties now, but I'll always consider myself a D.A.R.E. deputy. Not being able to do it now after becoming so personally involved cuts deep."

Andrejcak is a 27-year law enforcement veteran, spending the last 16 years as one of the county's D.A.R.E. officers.

He said it was the most "fulfilling work he's done in his career. And more important now than it has ever been.

"The thing with D.A.R.E. is that it is proactive rather than reactive," he said. "Society has changed a lot since I first started doing this. You don't see the anti-drug messages on TV like you used to and most families don't sit around and eat together, so staying away from drugs isn't a dinner table conversation most people have like they used to in this part of the world."

While he has heard about other drug prevention programs, Andrejcak said D.A.R.E. is the best out there, and not just because of his involvement.

"This is a program that sells itself because of the success it's had," he said. "It's science and research based and updated on a regular basis. There have been things like placing an emphasis on inhalant abuse when that was becoming a problem. Now one of the things it addresses is prescription drugs and how they are illegal if it isn't your prescription."

Andrejcak added one of the keys to the program is, that while it is based on resisting drugs, it actually emphasizes life skills.

"For example, they added a section on 'bullying' and how it hurts people shortly after the Columbine High School shootings in Colorado," he said. "It is the most comprehensive education program around."

The sheriff's office takes it a step further by including G.R.E.A.T., Gang Resistance Education and Training, as part of its program in 1994. It was one of the first departments to add that course of study, which was introduced by the Phoenix Police Department in 1991.

In addition to the educational aspects of the program, Andrejcak, Marek and Holt all contend the relationships they build with the students are at least as important. They said the students really learn that law enforcement officers are there to help them and are not just out there to arrest them or their family members.

Marek remembers his days in the classroom and the bond that he developed with the students, saying former students who have children of their own still come up to him calling him "Deputy Danny" in remembering the times he was in their classroom.

"We try to make every minute we have in the classroom count and the students appreciate that," Andrejcak said. "And we try to be enthusiastic about it. We're trying to head off seeing them in the justice system. Trying to reach them before they make the kind of mistake that can change their lives for ever."