Linda Dusenbury

In a lot of school systems , officials are only aware of the programs that have sent fliers across their desk , says Linda Dusenbury , a clinical associate professor at Weill Medical College at Cornell University and a researcher who works with Drug Strategies.But the aggressively marketed programs aren't always the best..

And although many programs show promise , surprisingly few have been evaluated according to rigorous , statistically valid standards.The result is a list of programs whose effectiveness is not assured--and research that's sometimes contradictory.

Typical of this dilemma is the research conducted on the Drug Abuse and Resistance Education ( D.A.R.E. ) program.
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Part of the problem is that school boards don't insist that drug and violence prevention efforts be integrated into the fabric of the school , Dusenbury says.Instead , school officials are guilty of taking a fragmented approach to the problem : talking about drugs in health class or installing metal detectors at schoolhouse doors.

Dusenbury insists the message about drugs and violence must be integrated into school rules of conduct , zero-tolerance policies , counseling , and high academic expectations.

School officials also have to look at the underlying causes of violence and drug abuse , say experts.

Separate studies by the University of Maryland and the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence found that some of the most successful programs in crime prevention have nothing directly to do with crime prevention--and a lot to do with counseling and intervention in the lives of troubled youths.

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