Harding Township D.A.R.E
The DARE program has three main goals. First, DARE seeks to provide students with a knowledge base on the effects of drug abuse that go beyond the physical ramifications and extend to emotional, social, and economic aspects of life. Secondly, DARE aims to build decision-making and problem solving skills and strategies to help students make informed decisions and resist drug use, peer pressure, and violence. Lastly, an integral part of the DARE program is to provide students with alternatives to drug use.
DARE is a universal program designed to reach the general population, rather than "at-risk" groups, and it is most often implemented in the fifth and sixth grades. Harding Township provides the core DARE program in fifth grade. Research has shown this to be a time when children are very receptive to anti-drug messages, particularly as they approach the age associated with drug experimentation. The curriculum focuses on knowledge and skill development in seven areas: 1) cognitive information, 2) recognizing pressures, 3) refusal skills, 4) consequential thinking and risk taking, 5) interpersonal and communication skills, 6) decision making, and 7) positive alternatives. Some of the DARE lessons focus on raising awareness in these skill areas, while others emphasize their practical application.
DARE is instinctive in its approach in that a specially trained, uniformed police officer conducts the lessons in the classroom. By employing a law enforcement officer to teach the curriculum, DARE brings the firsthand accounts of the officer's experiences from the street to the classroom. It is this unique aspect of the program that not only intrigues students but also helps to foster a positive relationship between the students and the DARE officer. While the DARE officer actually conducts the lessons, the classroom teacher reinforces the DARE material by integrating its objectives into the general curriculum for the particular grade level. It is believed that this will strengthen the students' understanding of the DARE objectives and increase their confidence in applying those skills in a variety of situations.
