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The New D.A.R.E. Curriculum
What's New D.A.R.E. all about! The Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program, the pioneer prevention effort founded in Los Angeles in 1983, is going high-tech, interactive, and decision-model-based. Gleaming with the latest in prevention science and teaching techniques, D.A.R.E. is reinventing itself as part of a major national research study that promises to help teachers and administrators cope with ever-evolving federal prevention program requirements and the thorny issues of school violence, budget cuts, and terrorism. Gone is the old-style approach to prevention in which an officer stands behind a podium and lectures students in straight rows. New D.A.R.E. officers are trained as coaches to support kids who are using research-based refusal strategies in high-stakes peer-pressure environments. New D.A.R.E. students of 2004 are getting to see for themselves -- via stunning brain imagery -- tangible proof of how substances diminish mental activity, emotions, coordination and movement. Mock courtroom exercises are bringing home the social and legal consequences of drug use and violence. "New D.A.R.E. is setting the gold standard for the future," says Charlie Parsons, Executive Director of D.A.R.E. America, "Prevention inside the 21 st century school house will need to be effective, diverse, accountable, and mean more things to more people, particularly with the safety issues that have emerged since Columbine and terrorist alerts. That's one reason why every New D.A.R.E. officer is also being trained as a certified School Resource Officer (SRO)." The New D.A.R.E. curriculum is in its third year of a massive five-year national research effort funded by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Under the direction of principal investigator, Dr. Zili Sloboda, the University of Akron's Adolescent Substance Abuse Prevention Study is a rigorous scientific evaluation of the New D.A.R.E. curricula designed to blend the latest in effective prevention science with the nation's largest prevention delivery network D.A.R.E. Dr. Herb Kleber, internationally recognized substance abuse expert and Chairman of D.A.R.E. America's Scientific Advisory Board, praises the ambitious scope of the New D.A.R.E. curriculum study, D.A.R.E has had the highest dissemination for decades of any school-based drug prevention program. It reaches 26 million children a year in 83 percent of all school districts and is admired by children and parents alike, says Kleber. The generous support of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the talent of the University of Akron group have made it possible to combine this acceptance with state-of-the-art- teaching and content to make D.A.R.E. not only the most popular, but the best. With research showing that adolescents, in particular, need to be involved in the learning process, experts shifted the focus in the new D.A.R.E. curriculum to include officer-facilitated work, discussion groups, and role-playing sessions. The resulting group dynamic of New D.A.R.E. encourages kids to work together on assignments and think for themselves, says Dr. Sloboda, New D.A.R.E. is about giving kids the skills and information they need to make good life choices.   What is D.A.R.E.? D.A.R.E. stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education. It is a drug abuse prevention education program designed to equip elementary, middle and high school children with knowledge about drug abuse, the consequences of abuse, and skills for resisting peer pressure to experiment with drugs, alcohol and tobacco. Based on the premise that prevention is the only long-term answer to drug abuse, the program includes all 50 states and 53 countries. The D.A.R.E. program is taught in over 75% of the nation?s school districts, creating a positive atmosphere for students to interact with uniformed law enforcement officers. This unique program uses uniformed law enforcement officers to teach a formal curriculum to students in a classroom setting. D.A.R.E. provides life-skills. D.A.R.E. lesson plans focus on four major areas: Providing accurate information about drugs, alcohol and tobacco. Teaching students good decision-making skills. Showing students how to recognize and resist peer pressure. Giving students ideas for positive alternatives to drug use. D.A.R.E officers work with children to raise their self-esteem, teach them how to make decisions on their own, and help them identify positive alternatives to drugs. Through role-playing, the D.A.R.E., curriculum emphasizes the negative consequences of drug use, and reinforces the skills to resist peer pressure and intimidation. Key Program Elements D.A.R.E. is a cooperative effort by the police, schools, parents, and the community - all four working together to help our children make the right choices concerning drug use. One of the unique features of D.A.R.E. is the use of uniformed police officers as instructors. D.A.R.E. officers are assigned to a classroom "beat." Gleaming with the latest in prevention science and teaching techniques, D.A.R.E. is reinventing itself as part of a major national research study that promises to help teachers and administrators cope with the thorny issues of school violence, budget cuts, and terrorism. The need for an effective education program to inoculate students against the threat of drugs is critical to the well being of our children and their future. What D.A.R.E. is NOT Scare tactics - D.A.R.E. relies on accurate information and a straight-forward approach. A "Witch Hunt" - D.A.R.E. Officers NEVER encourage students to "turn in" family or friends who may be breaking the law. D.A.R.E. students are taught to say "someone I know . . . " when sharing stories; never using real names. "Hands on drugs" - How drugs are used (methods) are not taught. Drugs are never taken into a classroom as part of D.A.R.E. Tips For Parents: Establish family rules that make it clear that drug use will not be tolerated. Educate yourself about drugs, so you can talk informatively with your children and answer their questions. Spend time with your children listening to their concerns and showing how much you love and care for them. Recognize that YOU are their most important role model. Because peer pressure is a major factor in teen drug use, know your children's friends. Talk with other parents. Try to establish uniform rules that make access to drugs harder, such as curfew and the amount of spending money they receive. If a problem exists, get help! Don't say "Not my child!" Teach them about the many positive alternatives to drug use.
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Bully Survey for Students