Purpose

D.A.R.E.D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) is a collaborative effort by D.A.R.E. certified law enforcement officers, educators, students, parents, and community to offer an educational program in the classroom to prevent or reduce drug abuse and violence among children and youth. The goal of the program is to help students recognize and resist the many direct and subtle pressures that influence them to experiment with alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, inhalants or other drugs or to engage in violence.

The D.A.R.E. program offers preventative strategies to enhance those protective factors, especially bonding to the family, school and community, which appear to enhance the capacity of young people for healthy, independent growth in spite of adverse conditions. These strategies focus on the development of social competence, resolution, sense of purpose and independence, and positive alternative activities to drug abuse and other destructive behaviors.

Organization

The D.A.R.E. program offers a variety of interactive, group-participation, cooperative-learning activities which are designed to encourage students to solve problems of major importance in their lives.

The program content for D.A.R.E. is organized into seventeen 60 minute lessons to be taught by a law enforcement officer, with suggested extended activities to be integrated into other instruction by the classroom teacher. A specially trained officer will be assigned to the school one day a week for one semester to conduct weekly lessons in the 5th grade. Student participation in the D.A.R.E. program may be incorporated as an integral part of the school’s curricular offering in health, science, social studies, language arts, or other subject(s) as appropriate. The classroom teacher maintains a supportive role in classroom management while the officer is teaching.

Culminating Activity

The last lesson of D.A.R.E. is a culminating assembly-type activity to which all classes involved in Project D.A.R.E. are invited. Teachers have an important role in helping to prepare students for the culminating activity.

This event provides an opportunity for recognition of the student leaders and all the students and staff who participated in the program. The scheduling of an event of this nature requires the approval of the school principal. Parents and important community leaders, including law enforcement and other public officials, are invited to attend.

Comprehensive Program Approach

The D.A.R.E. program - offered in concert with other school-based prevention activities and intervention strategies for the identification, early intervention, and after-care support of students at risk for substance abuse - may be viewed as a comprehensive substance abuse program that meets the goals of the federal Drug and Violence Free Schools and Communities Act.

A comprehensive program within the school offers such educational activities as the following to heighten awareness and knowledge about alcohol and other drug dependencies.

No matter how well designed a program is, it is not a success unless it is accepted by those for who it is designed. this is why the D.A.R..E. program is a success. Students love D.A.R.E.!! They are mature enough to deal with the issue of making decisions about using drugs, and they are younger than the age when statistics show most drug experimentation begins. D.A.R.E. may be our best opportunity to make a difference.

Return to DARE Page           Return to SRO Page