Times have changed, and so has the message behind D.A.R.E., the long-running program for elementary school students administered by law enforcement officers.
As the Clarion reported this week, while D.A.R.E. still stands for “drug abuse resistance education,” the acronym is now used to describe a different set of skills taught to students participants: “define, assess, respond, evaluate.”
The program now emphasizes life skills that students can apply to many different situations — not just the drugs and alcohol “just say no” message many of us remember from years ago.
“The whole goal is to educate them to resist using drugs,” Soldotna Police Officer Tobin Brennan told the Clarion. “But the way that they do that is not through scare tactics, but through life skills.”
We think providing young people with the tools to make good decisions about any situation, whether it is evaluating the consequences of risky behavior, or simply looking for help with a book report, is a valuable component to any education.
Quite frankly, having the skills to deal with stress, peer pressure, bullying and other of life’s many challenges is something we can all benefit from, regardless of our age.
We also hope that the conversation doesn’t end with the D.A.R.E. program graduation. Today’s youth — even in the small communities of the central Kenai Peninsula — face challenges we couldn’t even imagine 30 years ago, when “just say no” was enough. We encourage parents to continue to talk to their kids about risky behaviors. We know children benefit tremendously from having responsible adults in their lives, and as distant as a son or daughter may at times seem, we know parents are still their biggest influence.
So please, keep the conversation going. What’s age-appropriate to discuss with a fifth-grade D.A.R.E. participant will change and evolve as he or she gets older — just as the D.A.R.E. program has evolved — but we’re glad to see our young people equipped with the tools to do so. Let’s make sure they are able to keep putting those skills to use.
Editorial from Peninsula Clarion
Xylazine….Worse than Fentanyl
Xylazine….Worse than Fentanyl Increasingly around the country, the animal tranquilizer xylazine — known by street names like “tranq,” “tranq dope” and “zombie drug” — is being used as an additive by drug dealers of illicit fentanyl laced opioids, making its impact...
Fentanyl FAQ and Talking Points
Fentanyl Have a conversation with students or your children. Simply telling teens to not do drugs is not the most effective way to discuss fentanyl and other opioid drug risks. The teens that are the most at risk may just tune this warning out if they feel like...
D.A.R.E. Plans to Address Opioid Epidemic in New Lesson Program
Drug Abuse Resistance Education, better known as D.A.R.E., plans to launch an opioid-use prevention lesson program at the beginning of 2018. The widely known anti-drug abuse education program that gained momentum in the 1980s and 1990s will be reviewing educational...
The new D.A.R.E.: Decision-making skills instead of drug lectures
Drug Abuse Resistance Education, or D.A.R.E., the school-based substance use prevention program delivered by police officers, has quietly changed into a completely different curriculum. Instead of spending 45 minutes lecturing students about drugs — which has proven...
D.A.R.E. High School Curricula
EVIDENCE-BASED. IMPACTFUL. EFFECTIVE. D.A.R.E.'s high school curricula program consists of three distinct modules that offer educators and law enforcement flexible and cost-effective options for providing students with relevant and timely information and tools to...
Enhancement Lessons
Today’s youth face unprecedented risks that no prior generation has ever faced. In response, D.A.R.E. has created two “enhancement” lessons that supplement other D.A.R.E. curricula and provide important information for parents as well.
D.A.R.E. Middle School Curriculum
Based upon more than 20 years of research by the Drug Resistance Strategies Project about why our youth use drugs, D.A.R.E. America collaborated with Penn State University and Arizona State University to create keepin’ it REAL, a state-of-the-art, middle school substance abuse prevention program.
D.A.R.E. Elementary School Curriculum
D.A.R.E.’s keepin’ it REAL Elementary School curriculum continues a more than thirty year commitment to providing cutting edge instruction that helps prevent drug use by developing basic, core skills needed for safe and responsible choices…skills that extend well beyond drugs to healthy and mature choices in life.
D.A.R.E.’s keepin’ it REAL Elementary and Middle School Curriculums Adhere to Lessons From Prevention Research Principles
D.A.R.E.’s keepin’ it REAL Elementary and Middle School Curriculums Adhere to Relevant National Institute of Health Lessons From Prevention Research Principles. From www.drugabuse.gov. The principles listed below are the result of long-term research studies on the...
Purchase D.A.R.E. Merchandise & Workbooks
Copyright © 2022 D.A.R.E. America. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright © 2022 D.A.R.E. America.
All Rights Reserved.