D.A.R.E. Responds to America’s Opioid Crisis

In 2018 D.A.R.E. America launched a comprehensive K-12 Opioid and OTC/Rx drug abuse prevention lesson program

D.A.R.E. – The World’s Preeminent Youth Substance Abuse
and High Risk Behavior Prevention Education Program
Launched in 1983, D.A.R.E. is a comprehensive K-12 education program taught in thousands of schools in America, as well as 50+ other countries around the world. Taught by highly trained law enforcement officers, D.A.R.E. education programs deliver science and evidence-based curricula that teach students good decision-making skills that will help them lead safe and healthy lives and cope with high risk circumstances including drugs, alcohol, violence, bullying, and internet safety. No other K-12 prevention curricula is as comprehensive in the offering of topics critical to providing children with the decision making skills they need to live safe and healthy lives.
During 2019, D.A.R.E. continued its leadership in prevention education by responding to two life threatening crises facing school children – Vaping and Teen Mental Health – by launching informative lessons for middle and high school students that are FREE to D.A.R.E. communities. At the same time, D.A.R.E. also launched a new high school curriculum consisting of four, officer-led lessons entitled myPlaybook: CORE. Officers report that more than 1.2 million students will have received these new lessons and curriculum during the 2019/2020 school year.
D.A.R.E. is the fastest growing K-12 prevention education program in the country. Since 2018, nearly 200 new D.A.R.E. programs have been launched throughout the United States. Of this total, 105 new D.A.R.E. programs were launched in 2019 alone. To provide the instructors necessary for this rapid expansion, nearly 900 new law enforcement officers successfully completed the intensive 80-hour training course in 2019.
There is no better indicator of the D.A.R.E. program’s success than D.A.R.E. America’s highly active Youth Advocacy Board which consists of 27 members representing every region of America, as well as Brazil, Mexico, Canada, and the United Kingdom. These articulate and passionate high school and college students create public service announcements, lobby local elected officials, make presentations before community groups, and, in 2019, participated in the International Society of Substance Use Professionals international conference in Vienna, Austria.
More than just vital education, D.A.R.E. builds trust between students and law enforcement. D.A.R.E. exemplifies a strong foundation of collaboration between educators, law enforcement officers, and students at the local level. It’s the only program of its kind that develops and reinforces community-based prevention and community-oriented policing. We look forward to D.A.R.E. continuing as a pioneer and champion in the field of youth substance abuse and high risk behavior prevention activities.