The Sugarcreek Borough Police Department has presented the D.A.R.E. (Drug Awareness Resistance Education) program since 1996.

The department receives nearly $4,300 a year from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency to compensate for the wages of the officer.

Senior Patrolman Frank D. Heller is a certified D.A.R.E. instructor who presents the program for the department and the Valley Grove School District.

In 2000, the Borough of Sugarcreek purchased a Daren-the-Lion costume, which is the mascot for the program, which is utilized during the presentation of the D.A.R.E. program, special functions and parades.

   

The primary goals of D.A.R.E. are to prevent substance abuse among school children and to help them develop effective gang and violence resistance techniques. The core curriculum targets young children to prepare them to avoid substance abuse and violence as they enter adolescence.

The number of students abusing drugs and alcohol in the U.S. is at the highest level of any industrialized nation in the world.

The rapid increase of students experimenting with drugs has begun to taper off, but the starting age gets younger and younger.

For example, a poll by Weekly Reader Magazine shows a quarter of all fourth graders feel pressured to try alcohol or marijuana.

The lethal aim of drug dealers is to catch children at an early age and to influence them into developing drug habits. Once the children are addicted, dealers have deadly control over their lives. Adolescents may be susceptible to taking drugs or alcohol because their effect symbolizes a false value of independence, rebellion and adulthood. Thoughts of risking health and well being seem to be only of a minor importance.

•Acquiring skills to resist peer pressure

•Enhancing self-esteem

•Learning avbout positive alternatives to substance abuse

•Learning anger management and conflict resolution skills

•Developing risk assesment and decision making skills

•Reducing violence

•Building interpersonal and communication skills

•Resisting gang involvement

D.A.R.E. aims at reducing these risks by providing children with the knowledge, positive attitudes and skills needed to make healthy decisions, especially those related to alcohol and drug use.

Drug Education is still seen as the key for reducing the demand for drugs. The D.A.R.E. program is designed to be introduced to youth before they are exposed to drugs. The primary focus of the program is directed toward 6th grades. There are also introductory presentations for Kindergarten through 4th grades. This program is anticipated to expand into junior high and high schools as resources permit.

D.A.R.E. encourages students to have a more positive outlook toward law enforcement, school and home.

With the help of D.A.R.E., children become more self confident and cooperate with family members and their peers. This positive attitude will spread to all segments of society and eventually help to decrease friction between ethnic groups.

Program evaluations have shown that D.A.R.E. works. The program teaches students how to say "NO" to drugs. D.A.R.E. also contributes to improved study habits and grades, decreased vandalism and gang activity, and a greater respect for police officers.

Visit the official D.A.R.E. Website!
Also visit the D.A.R.E. Website to sign up for the DARE America bulletins to stay informed about the D.A.R.E. program and to receive other vital information on drugs and violence.