At a time when critics question the effectiveness of a popular drug prevention effort, a deputy who defused a potentially tragic bomb threat at a high school has only praise for the program. Chemung County Sheriff's Deputy Robert Hurley said it was only through the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program that he came to know Jeremy Getman. And it was that encounter at DARE six years ago, Hurley said Tuesday, that may have ended an incident a Southside High School that parents, students and law enforcement said could have turned out like the Columbine High School killings. Ruger pistol, a sawed-off shotgun with ammunition and 18 homemade bombs. In the past two months, the U.S. surgeon general and the National Academy of Sciences issued reports questioning the effectiveness of the program.
Some research indicates the effects of the program disappear by the time students reach college.
DARE America operates in 80 percent of U.S. school districts, reaching an estimated 36 million young people. It currently is testing a new school curriculum nationwide. Hurley and the DARE program had support from the prosecutor and residents of this Southern Tier city, who said all the elements combined last week to prevent the kind of school violence that has erupted at places like Columbine. We were very, very lucky. I think it's important that we have a school resource officer.