D.A.R.E. was started in 1983 in Los Angeles. It was designed by educators and law enforcement with the idea that a demand reduction program would educated our young prior to their first encounter with drugs. They are taught how to avoid getting involved with drugs and violent situations in the first place. The D.A.R.E. program now incorporates anti-violence training in its curriculum, D.A.R.E. has proven to be so successful that it has become the most effective and widely used drug education program and is taught in all 50 states and in some foreign countries.

The success of D.A.R.E. can be contributed to the carefully structured curriculum that focuses on topics of concern to our young people, even at a very early age. The instructor of the D.A.R.E. program is a trained, streetwise police officer who is empathetic to, and taken seriously by, the students. The officers, by their example, become positive role models to the students. While they teach in uniform, their personalities and knowledge quickly break down any pre-conceived notions of us and them between themselves and the students. The curriculum teaches the students:

• the consequences of using drugs
• how to resist peer pressure
• ways to say no
• being assertive
• decision-making skills
• avoidance of risk taking
• and dealing with problems

The D.A.R.E. program is taught at all elementary and middle schools within the city of St. Charles (a total of 14 schools). Each D.A.R.E. officer is committed to the youth of the community and works closely with the school administrators and teachers. When not teaching at their assigned schools, the officers provide various programs to organizations and other groups.