Nancy Reagan and David Hasselhoff Walk Into A Bar…

Or the problem with teaching kids to just say “no”.

First Lady Nancy Reagan at ‘Just Say No’ rally against drugs — photo credit Cynthia Johnson — Getty Images

Along with fresh pencils and clean backpacks comes a renewed interest in child abuse prevention…as if the start of school coincides with a rise of predatory behavior. (There is no such correlation.) A common theme in that programming is the idea of “no” as a tool to keep kids safe, as mentioned in a recent story on NPR. While it might seem like an urgent lesson at first glance, parents and caregivers should look at “no” a bit more critically.

In In 1982 First Lady Nancy Reagan visited an elementary school in southern California. One of the students asked Mrs. Reagan what she should do if offered drugs. Mrs. Reagan replied, “just say no”. It was the perfect soundbite. And a year later when the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance and Education) program debuted in schools, “just say no” became one of their slogans. “Just say no” was DARE’s most well-known program.

If only it worked.

A popular anti-drug commercial from the 1980s

There are several critiques of “just say no” beyond the obvious: the program did not reduce drug use among children. But one of the central criticisms was that DARE placed responsibility on the…