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· Dare
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Many youths say the current curriculum, which ends in fifth grade, isn't enough to keep them from trying drugs and alcohol
Jump to full article: Contra Costa (CA) Times, 2001-02-25
Author: Lisa Shafer / covers education. / 925-943-8345 or lshafer@cctimes.com.
Intro: To improve the long-term effects of the hugely popular Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, the 18-year-old organization is trying a new approach. This month, DARE America leaders announced plans to overhaul the program with a new curriculum designed by prevention researchers at the University of Akron in Ohio.
Before changes take place nationwide, DARE will run a pilot program until 2006 in six cities and their suburbs.
The revised curriculum is designed for middle school students rather than elementary school children and will be reinforced by a new ninth-grade unit. Students will spend more time in group discussions and problem-solving activities. DARE officers, in turn, will act more like coaches, encouraging students to challenge social norms on their own. . .
Fester recalls his DARE officer describing a person who might someday offer him drugs. It was always a stranger.
"He didn't tell you it would be one of your friends," said Fester.
The DARE lion, DARE song and DARE essay were all part of the drug-prevention fervor, said other Diablo Valley students. The lessons, they said, might have had more staying power if they hadn't stopped
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