But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord was aroused against his people and there was no remedy.
-2 Chronicles 36:16
This last week the nation said goodbye to Nancy Reagan, who was said to be one of the most influential First Ladies of our time. The obituaries and eulogies were numerous and detailed all her accomplishments while her husband was both in and out of office. Most were charitable and dignified. Others seemed to celebrate the negatives as well as the positives, maybe more so. Such is the case with high-profile lives that are lived in the spotlight. She may have seemed “straight laced, stiff and uptight” to some, but she brought dignity and grace to a quasi-official office that is often under appreciated.
There was one campaign Mrs. Reagan championed that was discussed at length…both with praise and derision. During President Reagan’s time in office, drug abuse was a topic that was front and center. The body count had skyrocketed and no one in those days doubted the obvious connection between drug addiction and other crimes. Enforcement by itself is never enough to completely eradicate a problem so entrenched in the human condition, so we turned to other potential treatments such as education.
There’s no question that problems are better solved by preventing them from happening in the first place. If you can “front load” a predictable challenge—get ahead of it—by inoculating the public with good information, you can save the majority a lot of grief. One of the best ways to do so with a generational issue is by directing prevention efforts towards the youth. Mrs. Reagan took the matter under her wing by leading the “Just Say No” campaign.
At the same time, the slogan had promise and was doomed to criticism due to its simplicity. Certainly, there were truckloads of medical, sociological and psychological information that needed to reach the populace. But it was too much to expect the public, especially the kids, to consume it all in a timely and meaningful manner. So how could we condense it into an instant notion that was relevant?
Well, you can boil, steam, bake, and sauté the ingredients to the issue as much as you want, but, unless someone is forced or coerced into drug use, the initial introduction into that world of intoxication and pain is a personal decision to take it or not to take it. Nancy’s response… “Don’t over complicate it. Just say no.”
The critics immediately pounced. “Oh, for God’s sake, it’s a hell of a lot more than that!” Well, of course it was…and is. That’s where those truckloads of information come into play. “Just Say No” was a concise, direct way to open the door and allow all those with university degrees and credentials up the “yin-yang” to have at it with an audience whose attention was already hooked.
It’s hard to quantify the success of any prevention program. You can evaluate the conditions before and after implementation, but with a problem like addiction there are so many variables that the full impact is hard to accurately judge. Who knows how many crimes are deterred and victims are saved by prevention efforts? They say, “You can’t prove a negative.” Defending the cost and effectiveness can be a huge challenge, especially when the opposition is well financed and organized. The media plays a significant role, both positive and negative. They help disseminate the intended message, but they can also be the purveyor of propaganda aimed at derailing the program…especially when that program is a government initiative.
I ran into a heavy dose of that kind of inundating resistance while teaching and, subsequently, administering the follow-on D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program in the schools. Very few people have a true appreciation for the mammoth pro-drug lobby that fought to fold up D.A.R.E. and similar school-based programs. Despite the competing demands for police personnel, available class time, and shrinking budgets that finally diminished and eliminated the program in most schools, D.A.R.E. miraculously combined two of the most controversial subjects in our society—law enforcement and public education—into a cohesive national project that was well received by students, teachers and parents, who worried about those negative influences on their kids that they couldn’t personally control.
The positive aspects and effectiveness of D.A.R.E. and the “Just Say No” campaign continue to be debated, even with Nancy Reagan’s passing. Those who were behind their implementation and saw the results first hand in the lives of the kids they influenced can attest to the benefits. I’ve heard grown adults talk about how Mrs. Reagan’s message made a difference. Every now and then, I get a young adult recognize me as their former elementary school D.A.R.E. teacher and thank me for helping them make better decisions. Aside from reminding me how much time has passed and my congruent age, I get a lot of satisfaction from those encounters. Hopefully, Mrs. Reagan did, too. I think she’s in good company.
Will Ye Go, Lassie Go
(Irish Folk Song)
Oh the summertime is coming
And the trees are sweetly blooming
And the wild mountain thyme
Grows around the blooming heather
Will ye go, Lassie go?
And we’ll all go together
To pluck wild mountain thyme
All around the blooming heather
Will ye go, Lassie go?
I will build my love a tower
Near yon’ pure crystal fountain
And on it I will build
All the flowers of the mountain
Will ye go, Lassie go?
If my true love she were gone
I would surely find another
Where wild mountain thyme
Grows around the blooming heather
Will ye go, Lassie go?
Happy St. Patrick’s Day, Mr. and Mrs. Reagan!
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