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Military
police from base installations throughout the Pacific will receive
Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) training from a cadre
of DARE instructor trainers who work for city police departments
in the U.S. The training is taking place at the New Sanno Hotel,
Tokyo, Japan from March 18 to April 4, 2003. Following the training,
candidates will receive the knowledge and skills to teach the
DARE curriculum in a classroom setting to elementary and middle
school students SY 2003–2004 and will become certified as
DARE officers.
D.A.R.E. is a substance abuse prevention
education program designed to equip elementary and middle school
children with skills for resisting peer pressure to experiment
with tobacco, alcohol, or drugs. D.A.R.E. provides added attention
to fifth grade students to prepare them for entry into middle
school, where they are most likely to encounter pressures to use,
experiment, or become addicted to drugs, alcohol, or tobacco.
This year, a new middle school curriculum (grades 6, 7, 8) is
being introduced. The Department of Defense Education Activity
(DoDEA) selected D.A.R.E. as the primary drug education program
for the system. Physical Education and Health Specialist, DoDDS
Pacific, stated that “the D.A.R.E. curriculum integrates
and coincides very well with the newly adopted Health curriculum
and related materials.”
D.A.R.E. lessons are highly structured activities that focus on
four major areas:
1.1 Provide accurate information about tobacco, alcohol, and drugs
1.2 Teach students decision-making skills and anti-violence conflict
resolution
1.3 Show students how to resist peer pressure
1.4 Give students ideas for alternatives to drugs
D.A.R.E. was developed in 1983 by
the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and the Los Angeles Unified
School District (LAUSD) and was adopted by Department of Defense
Dependents Schools (DoDDS) in 1986.
“D.A.R.E. has been well received
in DoDDS Pacific,” stated the Physical Education and Health
Specialist. “Last year 13,517 students in grades K–5
and 1,889 eighth graders received training in Korea, Japan, and
Okinawa districts. D.A.R.E. has received strong support from our
military communities. All elements of the community—the command
structure through the variety of service organization to parent,
school administrators, and the students themselves, continue to
enthusiastically support the D.A.R.E. program. The D.A.R.E. school
graduation ceremonies are some of the most well attended and support
in our schools and communities. The D.A.R.E. program is a very
positive influence,” said the specialist.
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