

For example, the Take Charge of your Life program, delivered by D.A.R.E.

program have not shown successful results either. They concluded that ““Given the tremendous expenditures in time and money involved with D.A.R.E., it would appear that continued efforts should focus on other techniques and programs that might produce more substantial effects” (West & O’Neal, 2004: 1028). has little or no impact on drug use, alcohol use, or tobacco use. These monies should be used to fund drug prevention programs that, based on rigorous evaluations, are shown to be effective in preventing drug use.”Ī systematic review by West and O’Neal (2004) examined 11 published studies of D.A.R.E. program should be eliminated or greatly reduced. As Rosenbaum (2007: 815) concludes “In light of consistent evidence of ineffectiveness from multiple studies with high validity, public funding of the core D.A.R.E. has been successful in reducing adolescent drug or alcohol use. by titling his 2007 Criminology and Public Policy article “Just say no to D.A.R.E.” As Rosenbaum describes, the program receives over $200 million in annual funding, despite little or no research evidence that D.A.R.E. Rosenbaum summarized the research evidence on D.A.R.E. is listed under “What doesn’t work?” on our Review of the Research Evidence. The new curriculum is designed to be more interactive and multicultural than the traditional program and utilizes student stories to teach students resistance skills.ĭ.A.R.E. has adopted the “Keepin’ it REAL” curriculum. curriculum was replaced by “Take Charge of Your Life,” which was found, if anything, to have counterproductive effects. program has been reformulated multiple times in efforts to increase its effectiveness (see below). program lasts 17 weeks and covers a number of topics including the effects of drugs, techniques for resisting peer pressure to use illegal substances, stress management, and positive alternatives to drug use. The main curriculum involves officers providing once a week instruction to students for about an hour. began in Los Angeles in 1983 and quickly spread to become the most popular drug prevention program for youth nationwide.
#D a r e program how to
What is Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.)?ĭrug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) is a police officer-led series of classroom lessons that teaches children (typically in elementary or middle school) how to stay drug free and resist peer pressure.ĭ.A.R.E. Conceived on the premise that prevention is the only long term answer to our drug problem, this innovative program is now being taught nationwide and in forty countries.Drug Free Zone sign image courtesy of Flickr user rytc and used under a Creative Commons license.
