Drug Abuse Resistance Education may not keep every child who graduates from the program from using drugs later in life. But it might prevent some of them from doing so, and local law enforcement officers say that makes teaching the program worth it.

Both the Bingham County Sheriff’s Office and the Pocatello Police Department have officers that teach the D.A.R.E. program, which has drawn some criticisms concerning its effectiveness over the years.

“Some people don’t think the program works, but I believe if we can help one kid stay off of drugs or ... not bully another kid, it is worth it,” said Bingham County Sheriff Craig T. Rowland, whose office has been involved with D.A.R.E. for more than two decades.

Kevin Nielsen, who has been teaching D.A.R.E. for the Pocatello Police Department for six years, agrees.

Since he also works as a middle school resource officer, he gets to keep in touch with the kids he taught in D.A.R.E., and he said a student actually approached him once to tell him about turning down a chance to smoke marijuana.

“(It’s the) little victories,” he said, adding that no one knows whether or not that student would have made the same choice without going through the D.A.R.E. program.

And Nielsen thinks D.A.R.E. does more than teach kids about the dangers of drugs before, hopefully, they’re offered any. For instance, it also helps kids understand that officers aren’t bad guys, but are instead people who want to help them.

“It builds a relationship of trust (between) students and officers,” Nielsen said, adding that he feels like he’s connecting better with kids because of D.A.R.E. “It’s opened a lot of doors.”

Tricia Hemsley, a fifth grade teacher at Wilcox Elementary School in Pocatello, thinks that aspect of the program is important. It gives the kids a chance to get to know a police officer and realize that he’s a regular person, she said.

“A lot of our students don’t have much interaction that is positive with police officers,” she said.

Nielsen said they hold a D.A.R.E. bike ride every year, and a record-breaking 400 people turned out for this year’s event. Those who attended were able to learn more about and spend time with police officers, drug dogs and firefighters.

A D.A.R.E celebration also takes place in Bingham County.

Law enforcement officers and firefighters there recently visited with more than 1,000 D.A.R.E. participants from local schools.

“It is a way for us to thank the kids for participating in the D.A.R.E. program,” Rowland said, adding that they served hotdogs, chips and cookies and played games at the Eastern Idaho State Fair grounds.

Terri Jansma, a fifth grade teacher at Wapello Elementary in Blackfoot, said the kids really enjoyed that event and the D.A.R.E. graduation.

“They loved the D.A.R.E. program they did at the end,” she said, adding that the event included some dancing and singing, which the kids really got into.

Hemsley said they make a big deal of the D.A.R.E. graduation in Pocatello so kids understand that the program is important and they should be proud of what they’ve accomplished. They invite parents to the event, she said, as well as the kids who will be going into the program the next year.

Although Rowland supports the D.A.R.E. program and believes it does help some kids — the essays they write at the end have shown him that they are learning — he recognizes that it won’t protect every student who graduates from it.

A Scientific American article published in September stated that scientists have repeatedly shown over the years that D.A.R.E. — which started in 1983 and was initially shaped by police officers and teachers in Los Angeles — didn’t make kids less likely to become drug addicts or refuse their first beer. But a new program implemented in recent years is expected to be more effective. Prevention scientists helped the nonprofit D.A.R.E. America develop that course, according to the article.

“The new course, called keepin’ it REAL, differs in both form and content from the former D.A.R.E. — replacing long, drug-fact laden lectures with interactive lessons that present stories meant to help kids make smart decisions,” according to the article, which adds that middle schools started using the program in 2009 and elementary schools started using a version of it in 2013.

Jansma agrees that the program has needed some tweaking to make it more interactive and to make a more lasting impression on students.

Rowland said D.A.R.E. has changed over the years. They don’t just teach about drugs and alcohol anymore, they talk about bullying and other issues as well.

Hemsley said she appreciates the lessons on Internet security and the fact that the program can teach students about bad habits, like smoking and drinking, without biasing them against the people who do those things, especially since some of the kids’ parents smoke or drink.

She thinks D.A.R.E. does make a difference and can increase student awareness of important issues.

“It can’t touch everybody, (but that) exposure can help them make better choices in the future,” she said.

Nielsen said D.A.R.E. teaches kids about choices and consequences and the importance of having good friends.

He believes it’s important to give kids that education before challenges arise in their middle school years and later — particularly when it comes to drugs.

“(If we can get to them) before the problem starts, it makes all the difference in the world,” he said.