Purpose

The Purpose

D.A.R.E. is a collaborative effort by D.A.R.E. certified law enforcement officers, educators, students, parents, and community to offer an educational program in the classroom to prevent or reduce drug abuse and violence among children and youth. The emphasis of D.A.R.E. is to help students recognize and resist the many direct and subtle pressures that influence them to experiment with alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, inhalants, or other drugs or to engage in violence.

dare-logo_thumb.jpg

Preventative Strategies

The D.A.R.E. program offers preventive strategies to enhance those protective factors, especially bonding to the family, school, and community, which appears to foster the development of resiliency in young people who may be at risk for substance abuse or other problem behaviors. Research has identified certain protective and social bonding factors in the family, school, and community, which may foster resiliency in young people, in other words, the capacity of young people for healthy, independent growth in spite of adverse conditions.

These strategies focus on the development of:

  • Social competences
  • Communication skills
  • Self-esteem
  • Empathy
  • Decision-making
  • Conflict resolution
  • Sense of purpose and independence
  • Positive alternative activities to drug abuse and other destructive behaviors.