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     D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) is a nationally recognized program, that pioneered drug prevention efforts.  D.A.R.E was founded by law enforcement officers in Los Angeles in 1983 and is currently undergoing a renovation to a high-tech, interactive, decision-model-based curriculum, gleaming with the latest in prevention science and teaching techniques.  D.A.R.E. is re-inventing 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.

     With the new curriculum, gone is the old-style approach to prevention in which officers stand behind podiums and lecture students in straight rows. New D.A.R.E. officers are trained as “coaches” to support kids who are trying-out 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.

     D.A.R.E. is a collaborative effort between the police department, schools, parents, and community leaders to surround our children with support and encouragement from all sides.

     The D.A.R.E. program teaches kids how to recognize and resist the direct and subtle pressures that influence them to experiment with alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and other drugs. And since between 70% and 90% of all crime is drug related, it is absolutely vital that we reach the children of America before it is too late.

     In Dennis the police and schools have taken the pro-active approach of instituting a D.A.R.E. program in the Nathaniel H. Wixon Middle School in 1995 and since that time over 1,300 of our children have received this valuable training.

     If you would like to learn more about the D.A.R.E. program you can visit their website at www.dare.com

 

 

 

 

     D.A.R.E. PARENTS EDUCATION PROGRAM   In addition to the school program, the police department provides a companion course for parents or caregivers of children of all ages.  The focus of this five session class is to develop better skills to interact with children, learning about peer pressures and identifying signs and symptoms of potential substance abuse and or abuse and violence.  Specific components of the program are as follows (1) Drugs and Violence in Today’s World; (2) Questions About Drugs; (3) More About Drugs Today; (4) How to Help Kids Cope; (5) Protecting Kids from Violence.   For further information about the D.A.R.E. Parent program contact Officer James Winn.