The Purpose
D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education)
is a collaborative effort by DARE 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 emphasis of DARE
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 DARE program offers preventive strategies to enhance those protective factors -
especially bonding to the family, school and community - which appears to foster the
development of resiliency in young people who may be at risk for substance abuse or other
problem behaviors. Researchers have identified certain protective and social bonding
factors in the family, school, and community which may foster resiliency in young people,
in other words, the capacity of young people for healthy, independent growth in spite of
adverse conditions. These strategies focus on the development of social competence,
communication skills, self-esteem, empathy, decision making, conflict resolution, sense of
purpose and independence, and positive alternative activities to drug abuse and other
destructive behaviors.
The Organization
The program content for DARE is organized into seventeen 45 to 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 is assigned to the school one day a week for one semester to conduct weekly lessons in grades 5 or 6. Student participation in the DARE 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 should maintain a supportive role in classroom management while the officer is teaching and should incorporate DARE program participation by students as an integral part of the student's final evaluation.
Comprehensive Program Approach
The DARE program - offered in concert with
other school-based prevention activities and intervention strategies for the
identification, early intervention, and aftercare 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-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:
A comprehensive program of instruction of the harmful effects of alcohol, tobacco, and
other drugs that are commonly abused. The program is sequential and grade-appropriate for
kindergarten through senior high school. Ideally, this instruction should be offered as an
integral part of the school's comprehensive health curriculum. Faculty in-service
training. Instruction by DARE officer in target classrooms. Parent education, including a
DARE evening for parents. Interest groups. Parent outreach and support.
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