D.A.R.E is a police officer lead series of classroom lessons that teach children in the 5th grade to 8th grade how to resist peer pressure and live productive drug and violence free lives. The D.A.R.E program is more than just a drug prevention education; it teaches students good decision making skills to help them avoid high-risk behavior to ensure they grow up healthy, safe and secure. D.A.R.E is universally viewed as and internationally recognized model of community policing.
Benefit to Communities
The United States Department of Justice had identified how D.A.R.E benefits local communities.
- D.A.R.E. "humanizes" the police: that is, young people can begin to relate to officers as people
- D.A.R.E permits students to see officers in a helping role, not just an enforcement role
- D.A.R.E opens lines of communication between law enforcement and youth
- D.A.R.E officers can serve as conduits to provide information beyond drug related topics
- D.A.R.E opens dialog between the school, police, and parents to deal with other issues
The bottom line-to combine the best research and science with the world's most effective delivery system -
D.A.R.E.