rade children in ways of resisting peer pressure to use drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. Most DARE activities were initially directed toward pupils in the last grade of elementary school (grade 5 or 6), which is thought to be the age at which youth are most receptive to an anti-drug message, and before they begin experimenting with drugs (RTI 2-4). However, from its inception, DARE was designed to be a continuing education program for kindergarten through high school (RTI 2-4). To that end, junior and senior high curricula were developed in 1986 and 1988, respectively.
Additionally, DARE designers created a parent curriculum to teach parents how to recognize and prevent drug use among youth and to provide them with information about the program (RTI 2-4). Lyman & Potter state a particularly innovative aspect of DARE was its use of full-time, uniformed police officers selected by DARE's supervisory staff as instructors (438). It also used a variety of educational techniques, including lectures, video tapes, and exercises, to teach students how to resist drugs. Furthermore, the use of police officers as instructors indicated the program relied on a community policing philosophy because it attempted to develop positive attitudes toward the police (Lyman & Potter 438).
DARE's primary goals are to prevent substance abuse among schoolchildren and to help children develop effective gang and violence resistance techniques (NIJ 1). The core curriculum is a 17-program lesson that targets young children and prepares them to avoid substance abuse and violence as they enter adolescence. Each lesson is about 45 to 60 minutes and teaches children various self-management skills and techniques for resisting peer pressure (Lyman & Potter 440). Lyman & Potter maintain training is focused on the premise that children who feel positive about themselves will be more capable of resisting peer pressure. Additional lessons emphasize the physical, me...