Mad Mom D.A.R.E.

My seventh grade son, recently expelled form his K-8 school, until the end of his 8th grade year, is faring pretty well given the way the school pushed him out the door for bringing a tiny amout of marijauna to a school dance. I'm not suggesting that he ought not have been punished for his behavior. It is beyond belief that they should do so for such a long period of time. In light of the apparent lack of concern they show for their students regarding educating them against using drugs.
D.A.R.E. is the only program the school uses and it has long been proven ineffective. There is absolutely NO emperical research suggesting that D.A.R.E. does what it is designed to do. Sadly there are programs, proven effective, available to our children. Not only do schools fail to meet their obligations, but also when children get caught doing stupid things, schools further place students and their fragile futures in danger by expelling them from school. "So long. Not our problem they seem to say." Then families are left floundering wondering how to pay the bills, how to help their child, how to prevent disaster by leaving their child home alone all day. In short how not to make a bad situation worse.