Drug Abuse Resistance Education, D.A.R.E., was started in 1983 in Los Angeles, California. It has since spread throughout the U.S. and even to some foreign countries.
For information about D.A.R.E. in Rye, contact the Police Station by phone at 914-967-1234 or Email Det. John Wood.

    The City of Rye is an enthusiastic supporter of D.A.R.E. The program is taught by specially trained police officers, who must pass rigorous qualification tests and a 100 hour D.A.R.E. instructor's course before any teaching begins. All instructors teach an identical, carefully laid out curriculum in order to insure consistency in the program.

While in the classroom, The D.A.R.E. instructor has two main goals:

1. Educate the students on the negative impact illegal drugs could have on their lives.
2. Help students build their self-esteem.

Instructors do this by using visual aids, role playing with students and encouraging constructive communication. Each 16 week D.A.R.E. course concludes with a "Culmination", where students are recognized for their participation in the program. Having police officers teach this program helps foster good relations between the police and youths in the community. Many former D.A.R.E. students and their parents are still on a first name basis with their D.A.R.E. instructors years after the child participated in the program.

The focus of the class is built around a seventeen step program:

1. Practices for personal safety
2. Drug use and misuse
3. Consequences of drug use
4. Resisting peer pressure
5. Ways to say "NO"
6. Building Self Esteem
7. Assertiveness
8. Managing Stress without using drugs
9. Media influences and drug abuse
10. Decision making and risk taking
11. Alternatives to drug abuse
12. Role modeling
13. Forming a support system
14. Ways to deal with pressure from gangs
15. Lesson review
16. Taking a stand
17. Student achievement