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US C(: Colutim: The Dire Consequences Of' ,s <br />0 <br />making childhood "self-esteem" a central focus of public education. <br />Self-esteem is a central focus in DARE, and Ellen Maslow says it has led <br />to narcissism and self-indulgence. <br />Other critics of self-esteem are easy to find these days. "Saddam Hussein <br />and Stalin had great self-esteem," Norm Resnick, a psychologist and <br />national radio talk show host told me. "Children need authoritative <br />guidance. Self-esteem alone doesn't translate into making good decisions." <br />Still not convinced DARE was all bad, I contacted psychologist Richard H. <br />Blum at Stanford University School of Medicine. At the time, Blum was <br />heading the single largest ongoing study of drug education in the United <br />States, published as "Drug Education: Results and Recommendations. <br />"Basically, we have found again and again that drug education in schools <br />causes kids to take on drugs and alcohol sooner than they would without <br />the education," Blum told me. <br />Colson summed it up best. "As they get a little older, they become very <br />curious about these drugs they've learned about from police officers. The <br />kids start thinking, 'I don't want to say no.' Then they say, 'Didn't that <br />police officer tell me it's my perfect right to choose?' And thus, they choose <br />to experiment." <br />By now police departments must know this. But DARE is first and <br />foremost about money. According to Hansen, taxpayers spend about $125 <br />per DARE pupil. "What this does is channel a lot of money to police <br />departments, and that's why they like it," Hansen says. <br />Responding to Boulder's abandonment of the program, DARE spokesman <br />Ralph Lockridge had the gall to suggest we need more of it. The program <br />should be broadened to include high school students, not just fifth graders, <br />he claims. <br />"It's sort of like teaching someone 17 piano lessons in the fifth grade and <br />expecting them to remember anything without any reinforcement when <br />you test them in high school," Lockridge told the Sunday Camera. <br />This man obviously suffers from excessive self-esteem disorder. <br />In truth, DARE's expectation is far sillier than Lockridge's piano analogy <br />suggests. He'd be accurate to say: "It's like teaching students 17 piano <br />lessons in the fifth grade and then expecting them to never touch a <br />,-,a 12/22/98 5:48 PM <br />