DARE Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

DARE - Term Paper Example These 43 countries vary in languages and are spread across the globe. Anguilla, Barbados, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Guatemala, Italy, Iceland, Cuba, Japan, Mexico, Philippines, Norway, Spain, South Korea, United Kingdom, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Wales and St. Maarten are some of the countries which have embraced D.A.R.E. as a means of assisting them in the fight against drug abuse and violence. D.A.R.E. signifies a collaborative effort to reduce crime between ‘local schools and law enforcement personnel’ (Leis 2009). Interestingly, local D.A.R.E. programs were found to be so effective that both national and international stakeholders clamored for the creation of an umbrella organization. This massive demand led to the establishment of D.A.R.E. America, a major resource to improve the quality of the local D.A.R.E. programs. This non-profit organization offers officer training provides educational materials for students, assesses the D.A.R.E. curriculum as well as the standards of instruction and program effectiveness. D.A.R.E. America generates consciousness in the minds of the American citizens about D.A.R.E. Police officers are trained and certified to present classroom lessons to children from kindergarten to 12th grade. ... An additional 40 hours of training in high school curriculum is necessary for D.A.R.E. instructors. Internationally D.A.R.E. is considered to be a representation of community policing. The United States Department of Justice has highlighted several valuable contributions of D.A.R.E. to local communities. Two major benefits include a seamless relationship between the young people and the police and opportunities for there to be open communication/dialogues between the school, police and parents. It is quite easy to begin a D.A.R.E. program in one’s community. A signed written agreement between the Superintendent of Schools and the Chief of police I submitted to D.A.R.E. America indicating the desires of both parties to implement the program and the guarantee that the police officers would participate and complete the required D.A.R.E. training. Generally, there is no charge for the tuition to officers. However, some training centers may charge a small fee. The requesting instit utions would usually pay for the lodging and meal expenses of their officers. For the first year both instructor’s materials and students’ workbooks are supplied free of charge to the officers and students in question. Hence a starter kit is supplied to these communities free of charge for the first year. D.A.R.E. in its 28 years life span has received endless praise for its work in public awareness of drug abuse and gang violence from a wide range of members of society. However, no commendation is as distinguished as its first Presidential proclamation since 1988 of a national D.A.R.E. Day. Subsequent to this date each year is marked with a Presidential Proclamation declaring one day in the year as the national