DARE

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• DARE

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DARE Is it worth the Billions?
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What is DARE?

• Drug Abuse Resistance Education
• Elementary school curriculum taught by uniformed
  Police Officers to educate students to resist
  drug use/abuse
• Taught in over 50 of US school districts in all
  50 states
• Costs the US Federal Government between 1 -1.3
  Billion a year

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DAREs Mission

• To provide children with the information and
  skills they need to live drug-and-violence-free
  lives. Additionally, it establishes positive
  relationships between students and law
  enforcement, teachers, parents, and other
  community leaders.

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The Objectives of DARE

• Understand physical, emotional, social, and legal
  risks and effects
• Compare normative beliefs of peers with national
  data revise understanding/ beliefs
• Expand knowledge about positive alternatives
• Learn refusal strategies, communication skills,
  and assertiveness resistance skills

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The Curriculum

• Curriculum was revised in 2003 by a panel of
  experts from
• Safe and Drug Free School Office in the
  Department of Education
• Office of National Drug Control
• National Institute of Drug Abuse

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Principles Emphasized in the new 5th/6th Grade
Curriculum

• Being early can improve outcomes
• Developmentally appropriate programs can improve
  outcomes
• Use of interactive methods can improve outcomes
• Training can improve outcomes
• Decision making skills can improve outcomes
• Knowledge of risk can improve outcomes
• Healthy attitudes towards substances can improve
  outcomes
• Accurate normative awareness can improve outcomes
• Good communication skills can improve outcomes
• Good refusal skills can improve outcomes

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Lessons(45 minutes to an Hour each)

• Lesson 1 Purposes and Overview of DARE
  program
• Lesson 2 Tobacco and You
• Lesson 3 Smoke Screen
• Lesson 4 Alcohol and You
• Lesson 5 The Real Truth
• Lesson 6 Friendship Foundations
• Lesson 7 Putting it Together
• Lesson 8 Personal Action
• Lesson 9 Practice! Practice! Practice!
• Lesson 10 DARE Graduation

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The Costs

• From The Economic Costs of DARE by
• The Institute of Industrial Relations, Sept 2001
• Number of full-time DARE Officers 7,838 - 9,264
• Value (salary benefits overhead) of Officer
  68,572 (Total 537 - 635 million)
• Costs of training 3,000 Officers 4,000 each
• (Total 25 - 60 million)
• Costs of Materials/Supplies 15 million
• Cost of DARE America (parent company) 9 million
• Cost of Research/Program Development 3 million

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Costs (contd)

• Annual per-pupil cost of education 7,000
• Number of classroom hours in DARE 3.3 -3.9
  million
• Cost of a classroom hour 133 - 155
• Costs of DARE classroom time 439 605 million
• National Estimate of DARE Costs 1.04 billion -
  1.34 billion
• Per Student Cost of DARE 175 - 270

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Funding for DARE

• DARE America (DARE parent company) is a
  non-profit tax-exempt organization
• There are 4 regional training centers, funded by
  annual 1.7 million US Dept. of Justice Grant
• Funding for DARE comes from Corporate Sponsors,
  Foundations, and the Government

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• What is DARE doing for kids?

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• What is DARE supposed to be
• doing for kids?

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• What is working?

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• What is not working?

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• Studies that show DARE to be effective

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• Studies that show DARE to be ineffective

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Further thoughts about the bigger picture of DARE
and drugs

• What do people think of when they think of DARE?
• Does DARE tell the whole truth? Are they
  educating kids with all of the information?
  Should harm-reduction be a part of DARE?
• What kind of political motivations does DARE
  serve?

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• NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President
  of the United States of America, by virtue of the
  authority vested in me by the Constitution and
  laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim
  April 14, 2005, as National D.A.R.E. Day.
  National D.A.R.E. Day.
• - George W. Bush

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• Review the literature that has evaluated the
  effectiveness of the DARE prevention program.
  Discuss whether the outcomes are justified by the
  cost of the program.