D.A.R.E (DRUG ABUSE RESISTANCE EDUCATION)
Welcome to the Upper Merion Township Police Department's D.A.R.E. web page. Our intention is to keep you up to date on the topics discussed weekly in D.A.R.E. class.
In September 1997, the Upper Merion Township Police Department began teaching the D.A.R.E. (DrugAbuse Resistance Education) program to fifth and sixth grade students throughout the township. OfficersMichael Martin, Andrew Andreyko, and Paul Richard are teaching the 17-week curriculum. In addition to the one-hour classes, D.A.R.E. offers non-instructional school visitations, which facilitate police-student interaction at all grade levels. There will also be a Kindergarten through fourth grade visitation schedule set, whereby Officers will teach younger students various points of personal safety. Each school held a D.A.R.E. parent orientation meeting hosted by the D.A.R.E. Officers.
Lesson 1: “Introducing D.A.R.E.”
Preventing drug abuse among children and youth is a collaborative responsibility between, the school, police, and parents.
Students became familiar with the words, “Drug”, “Abuse”, “Resistance”, and “Education”. The rules for behavior in the classroom were discussed, and students were given D.A.R.E. pencils as their Officer personally greeted each. Students read aloud a letter in their workbooks, which was taken home for parental signatures.
Lesson 2: “Understanding The Effects Of Mind Altering Drugs”
Drugs are substances that can change the way the mind and body work. Drugs that act on the brain and nervous system to change (alter) feelings and behavior are called mind altering drugs.
Students defined the words “Drug” and “Abuse”.
Drug- any substance other than food that can affect the way your mind and body work.
Abuse- the wrong use of something.
Also during this lesson, the students watched a video, which took them on a journey through “The land of decisions and choices.” The characters in the story will play a role in presenting scenarios to the students throughout the remainder of the course.
Lesson 3: “Considering Consequences”
Considering the consequences that may result from the use of drugs can be helpful in deciding to be drug free. Students learned that there are many consequences that may result from the use of drugs.
As a part of this lesson, the students completed an activity during which they recorded the positive or negative consequences of either using, or not using tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana. The students learned on their own that there are no true positive consequences associated with drug use.
Students defined the word “Consequences”.
Consequences- the results of something you do, or choose not to do.
Lesson 4: “Changing Beliefs About Drug Abuse”
Changing student's beliefs about the extent of drug use can help them resist pressure and say no to drug offers. Students were able to identify the major sources and kinds of peer pressure and also compared their estimates of the extent of drug use among adolescents with estimates reported in a national survey.
Students defined the words “Pressure” and “Peer Pressure”
Pressure- a force or influence that acts on you to do something.
Peer Pressure- a force or influence on you from others who
are about your age.
Other topics learned were:
The sources of pressure- Personal, Family, Media, Peer
The four kinds of peer pressure- Friendly, Teasing, Indirect,
Heavy
Lesson 5: “Learning Resistance Techniques-Ways To Say No”
There are effective ways to say no in response to different kinds of peer pressure to use drugs. The students learned and practiced effective ways to say no to different kinds of peer pressure to use drugs. They also had a chance to demonstrate their new techniques through role-play. The students then evaluated each scenario by discussing the appropriateness of the response for the kind of pressure used.
The skills learned in this lesson were the “Eight ways to say no”
(Ask a D.A.R.E Student to recall them for you!)
Lesson 6: “Building Self-Esteem”
Developing positive attitudes about one's own abilities and achievements is important in building self-esteem. The students learned that self-esteem, the way a person feels about him/herself, results from positive and negative feelings and experiences. Our objective is to have students recognize positive qualities about themselves.
Poor self-esteem is one of the factors associated with drug misuse by young people.
Students defined the word “Self-esteem”.
Self-esteem- the way you feel about yourself.
In an effort to begin the building of self-esteem, the students completed an activity called, “Giving a compliment”. Here, the students exchanged workbooks and wrote one positive compliment about each other. Then for fun, each student made up their own personal license plate to express their positive qualities.
Lesson 7: “Learning Assertiveness – A Response Style”
Assertiveness (standing up for oneself) is a response style that enables a person to state his or her own rights without loss of self-esteem. The students learned assertiveness as a technique for refusing offers to use drugs and other situations where it would be helpful.
The students became aware of the three different response styles (Unsure, Demanding, and Confident/Assertive).
The students defined the word “Assertiveness”
Assertiveness- a way of telling other people what your rights
are, while still
respecting theirs.
Each student had an opportunity to role-play scenarios in which they demonstrated an assertive response style to unfavorable requests.
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