Purpose
- Drug Abuse Resistance Education is a collaborative effort by
D.A.R.E. certified law enforcement officers, educators, students, parents,
and the Community to offer an educational program in the classroom to
prevent
or reduce drug abuse and violence among children and youth. To help
our youth recognize and resist the many direct and subtle pressures that influence
them to experiment with alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, inhalants, or other
illegal drugs, or to engage in violence. With the New
D.A.R.E. curriculum
the focus is to improve decision-making skills to achieve the goals of
preventing or reducing drug use and the acts of violence among our
youth.
Our Local Community
- The city of San Antonio began the
D.A.R.E.
program in 1988, through the San Antonio Police Department and select schools
from the 15 different school districts. The
Bexar County
D.A.R.E.
Program began in 1993. The
Bexar County
D.A.R.E.
program has consecutively grown and continues to expand based on the public's
(citizen's) demands for it's expansion. In July 1997, the San Antonio Police
Department dropped the
D.A.R.E.
program due to budgetary constraints, however the demand for continuance of the
D.A.R.E.
program has persisted. This has called for the program to expand the current
program to incorporate all the schools formerly in the San Antonio Police
Department
D.A.R.E.
program. To achieve this “D.A.R.E.
PROJECT
PARTNERSHIP”
was created. This concept involved the
Bexar County
Sheriff’s Office,
Alamo Heights Police Department, Castle Hills Police Department, Constables
Office PCT#1, Constables Office PCT#4, East Central I.S.D. Police Department,
Harlandale I.S.D. Police Department, Northeast I.S.D. Police Department, South
San Antonio I.S.D. Police Department, Southside I.S.D. Police Department, Fort
Sam Houston U.S. Army DoD Police Department and Security Police from Lackland
and Randolph USAF Bases. Even with the
Bexar County
dropping their program involvement effective December 2007, there is still an
active
D.A.R.E.
Program in
Bexar County.
Focus
-
D.A.R.E. strategies focus on the development of social competence, communication
skills, self-esteem, empathy, decision making, conflict resolution, sense
of purpose and independence, and positive alternative activities to drug abuse
and other destructive behaviors. Specially trained and selected uniformed
law enforcement personnel work full-time as
D.A.R.E. instructors and patrol
Community policing deputies. These deputies teach one
D.A.R.E. lesson per
week; to 4 to 8 classes each day for each school; with each deputy doing 3
to 4 schools each per week focusing at the 5th grade level. These deputies
have credibility with the youth and their teachers because of their experience
and expertise as veteran patrol officers in dealing with substance abusers
and violence.
Community D.A.R.E. Board of Directors
- We have a
local board of directors whom govern our implementation
of our
Bexar
County D.A.R.E. program. These are Community and business leaders who approve
our operating budget and represent the local Community's interest in all aspects
of our program. There are currently 12 directors on the board. We are a 501(c)
(3) non-profit program and organization. Our federal tax ID exempt number is 74-2564308. We rely on local donations
and contributions from local businesses, civic groups and clubs, school districts,
school PTA/PTO, parents and concerned citizen's to help defray the cost of
workbooks, instructional materials, and incentives for the students. The success
of the D.A.R.E. program within our Community depends not only on the well-designed
curriculum, but also on the support of our Community. We need your help and
financial support as this is a "TEAM" effort.
We can be
contacted at: 210.226.0303 ext. 202
