Do they help?

This last week I have heard some of my classmates talk about the Names program, training to help out in the antibullying program that Freshman go through. I was reminded of another anti-... program. D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education). I did not go through that program myself since I left my old school district before junior high, but my brother did.

Do D.A.R.E. and Names actually do anything to help people? Do they prevent drug abuse and bullying?  We like to think that they do. It seems like they should. It seems like they might. It seems to work adequately, so why look for another method?

I have heard sceptics of both progeams, children and their parents, that claim the programs have an overall negligible, or even negative, effect. I do not know of any solid evidence to support these claims, nor do I have any to refute them. Despite the lack of hard proof in my possesion, I do believe the sceptics have a point; have studies (repeatable, large scale, studies) been done to prove that D.A.R.E. and Names actually decrease pre-teen/teen drug use and bullying, respectively?

Since I did not go through the D.A.R.E. program myself, I will not comment on it further; however, like most NT students, I went the Names progam Freshman year. For myself and, from what I could see, for my peers, nothing changed. Well, not quite. People were a bit kinder and more careful with their words for a month or two, but soon the majority of the student population was back to the bullying, coercing, norm. (Which goes steadily down as we become older and more mature.)

Questions: Why does no one make a study of the results? (Or, why can I not find a study?) Why do we even have these programs in the first place?................(I truly do not understand why.)

"Settlements"

Unfortunately I cannot link it because I do not know how to translate the article into English, but yesterday I read an article, in Hebrew, about the jewish West Bank "settlements".

(For those of you who like to analyze my use of quotation marks, I will explain "settlements". The word settlement, at least in this context, has the negative implication of wrongfully taking and settling land that belong to someone else. As of the end of the 6-day war in 1967, the West Bank has officially been a part of Israel. To my knowledge, all "settlements", villages, and towns in the West Bank are entirely legal.)

The official stance of the Israeli government regarding these "settlements" has changed from administration to administration. Prime Minister Olmert did not give many building permits. Prime Minister Netanyahu has given more. Despite this official difference, in practice, the "settlements" have been growing at a steady rate throughout. The majority of building permits issued to legalize the construction of housing units (apartments or houses) in the West Bank were and are issued by the local governments directly to local contractors who then just go ahead and build. So why is the federal government the one yelled at for the continued construction of "settlements"? Why does it matter what the federal government wants? Are the high-up politicians to squash the hopes of young families in the "settlements" who want their own home? Is the U.S.A., itself obsessed with housing everyone, going to continue to demand the federal government of Israel do this?

I wonder...



(I apologize if my bias ever offends anyone; however, I will not apologize for my bias. It is slight in most matters and my opinions are primarily based off fact.)