NCJ Number
100756
Date Published
1986
Length
4 pages
Annotation
A joint project of the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles Unified School District is designed to equip elementary and junior high school children with the skills for resisting peer pressure to experiment with alcohol and drugs.
Abstract
Project Dare's instructors are police officers on full-time duty with the project. Assigned to five schools per semester, officers visit classrooms once a week to present an innovative curriculum that emphasizes self-esteem, foreseeing the consequences of one's own behavior, and saying ''no'' to drug and alcohol experimentation. Using the techniques of question-and-answer, role playing, group discussion, and workbook exercises, the curriculum consists of 17 lessons. Subjects covered include personal safety practices, drug use and misuse, consequences of choosing to use or not use drugs and alcohol, resistance techniques, self-esteem, assertiveness as a response style, stress management, media influences on drug use, decisionmaking and risk-taking, and alternatives to drug abuse. Taking a stand on drug and alcohol use is emphasized. Since its inception, the project has served as a model program for other agencies throughout the country.