"I D.A.R.E. You to Read This" commentary

In Clayton Barone's "I D.A.R.E. You to Read This" commentary he talks about a government funded program called "D.A.R.E.." "So why are kids consuming marijuana and alcohol when the government is dumping millions of dollars into programs like D.A.R.E.?" says Barone. He later says that he thinks this program should not be cancelled. The main or one of the main problems of our country is being in debt, if kids aren't understanding these lectures on drugs then why not get rid of them and save some money? Being in elementary school, I do recall the D.A.R.E. lectures we were given but most importantly I remember not understanding them. Children in elementary school are just too young to understand. If the government wants to help children get out of drugs and peer pressure then they should be talking to high schoolers and possibly middle schoolers. Being a teenager is when it's important to teach kids the bigger life lessons because that is when they like to sneak around and keep things from their parents. Of course as people get older they tend to tone others out because as humans we don't like rules and having to be ordered around. Some people do learn best from mistakes and I think thats the important thing. If you thoroughly describe to a person what it is to "get high" I think they feel less pressured to try it because in reality it's what, just ten minutes maybe of pleasure that you might regret later when you can't get the job you wanted? I say, keep the program or don't people are going to make their own decisions no matter what and will learn from their mistakes whether they heard some lecture or they didn't.