2019 New D.A.R.E. Curriculum Overview

myPlaybook: Core High School Curriculum

 

myPlaybook: Core is a four-lesson curriculum designed for delivery to High School Students, ideally in 9th or 10th grade. The lesson content is aligned with D.A.R.E. Elementary and Middle school program concepts, continuing the focus on understanding risk behavior and making decisions that support safety and health.

Lesson 1: Your Community and Perceptions of Alcohol and Other Drug Use

Lesson Objectives

    • Identify themselves as important members of their school community.
    • Understand the relationship between Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) use and being a good community member.
    • Understand the role social norms play in shaping their behavior.
    • Understand that high school students who choose not to drink or do drugs are in the majority.

Lesson 2: Consequences

Lesson Objectives

    • Understand how alcohol and drugs affect the adolescent brain.
    • Describe the negative consequences of alcohol and drug use.
    • Accurately understand risk for experiencing consequences of alcohol and drug use.

Lesson 3: Reasons for Use and Resisting Pressure

Lesson Objectives

    • Understand the reasons some people use AOD and alternatives to use.
    • Understand why people might pressure others to use AOD.
    • Have a personal plan for opting out of pressure or offers to use AOD.

Lesson 4: Being an Upstander

Lesson Objectives

    • Understand themselves as important members of their high school community.
    • Understand pressures that they and their peers may be facing.
    • Feel confident stepping into a scenario safely.

More Than Sad: Teen Mental Health Enhancement Lesson

 
1 in 5 U.S. adolescents aged 13-18 have experienced a serious mental health disorder1. Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death in young people aged 10-242.

More Than Sad is a 45 minute enhancement lesson designed for delivery by D.A.R.E. Officers to High School students, ideally in 9th or 10th grade. D.A.R.E. collaborated with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) to adapt this lesson for delivery by D.A.R.E. Officers. The purpose of the lesson is to teach teens to recognize the signs of depression in themselves and others, challenge the stigma surrounding depression, demystify the treatment process, and encourage students to talk to a trusted adult about mental health concerns.

Lesson Objectives

    • Identify signs and symptoms of depression in self and others.
    • Recognize that depression is an illness that responds to treatment.
    • Recognize that alcohol and other drugs have a negative effect on mental health.
    • Describe ways to seek help with mental health.
    • Identify treatment that is available and effective.
  1. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/mental-illness.shtml
  2. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/suicide.shtml

Vaping Enhancement Lesson

 
Vaping nicotine nearly doubled among high school seniors from 11 percent in 2017 to 20.9 percent in 2018. More than 1 in 10 eighth graders (10.9 percent) say they vaped nicotine in the past year, and use is up significantly in virtually all vaping measures among eighth, 10th and 12th graders1. These are—by far—the biggest one-year increases ever seen for any substance in the history of the MTF survey2.

The Vaping enhancement lesson is a 45 minute lesson designed for deliver by D.A.R.E. Officers. This lesson has two versions that present the information at two developmentally appropriate levels of complexity: one is designed for Middle School students in 7th or 8th grade, and one for High School students in 9th or 10th grade. In these lessons, students will learn about the risks associated with vaping and understand how knowledge of risk factors increases over the lifespan of a product.

Lesson Objectives

    • Recognize and identify basic information about vaping.
    • Understand that most people in their grade do not vape.
    • Identify similarities between tobacco and vape use, attitudes, and effects.
    • Identify risks associated with nicotine use.
    • Understand that products initially appearing safe may later be considered harmful as research and user data are studied over time.
  1. https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/teens-using-vaping-devices-record-numbers
  2. https://www.drugabuse.gov/about-nida/noras-blog/2018/12/monitoring-future-survey-results-show-alarming-rise-in-teen-vaping

Copyright © 2022 D.A.R.E. America. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2022 D.A.R.E. America.
All Rights Reserved.