D.A.R.E. has changed so much since it started in the 80’s. We want to provide an essay from Ruth-Our Lady of Peace, Minneapolis. She addresses just a few of the changes she enjoyed in her D.A.R.E. program.
My D.A.R.E. Essay, Keepin It REAL
There is a beautiful world out there full of so many wonders and adventures and I do not want to throw it away because of a few nasty, dirty, harmful drugs. Hi, my name is Ruth A., I am 11 years old, I go to Our Lady of Peace School, my 5th-grade teacher is Mrs. Roth, and my D.A.R.E. officer is Deputy Todd Lundgren. In this essay, I will be talking about what I learned in D.A.R.E. and my thoughts on it.
One of the things we learned in D.A.R.E. about alcohol was what our vision would like if we were drunk by using fatal vision goggles. The challenge was to try to walk in a straight line. Some people failed and others succeeded. We also learned that it is illegal to drive when drunk and it is illegal to drink alcohol when you are under 21 years old. We learned that if an officer wants to check how much alcohol you drank, they will either check your breath by smelling it, bring you to a nearby hospital to get your urine tested, or give you a test like telling you to walk in a straight line or touch your left ankle with your right hand. In addition, we learned the health effects of alcohol use which include loss of coordination, poor judgment, memory loss, loss of self-control, and slow reflexes.
In my opinion, the easiest lesson we had in D.A.R.E. was about bullying. For me, it felt more like a review than a lesson because we were talking about things we had already learned in Child Safety Matters. But one new things we learned was how to report bullying and some vocabulary words. In order to report bullying you must use the 5 W’s of bullying – who, what, when, where, and why meaning who did it, what did they do, when did it happen, where did it happen, and why did they do it. We also learned you can go to juvenile detention if you bully people and that it is important not to do it because it hurts other people’s feelings whether it is physical bullying or bullying with your words it cand cause long-term damage.
In D.A.R.E., we used decision-making models to help us with our work and in the future, I plan to use them to make good decisions in the real world. In D.A.R.E. we also used a special strategy to solve the problems in our D.A.R.E. Planner. D stands for Define the problem or opportunity, A stands for Assess or think about what you choices are, R stands for Respond or make a choice you do this by using the facts and info you have gathered, and E stands for Evaluate and review your decision. Did you make a good choice? We also learned how to communicate confidently. I can achieve this by standing up straight with my arms anywhere except crossing my chest, speaking in a loud voice, and with a confient smile on my face. We also learned how to be good citizens. We can do this by helping people in our communities who need help.
I will apply these lessons to my life by using Define, Assess, Respond, and Evaluate to solve problems in my life. Spreading the word to other people about drugs, tobacco, and alcohol to prevent any more deaths, report bullying whenever I see it, saying no to drugs confidently, and being a good citizen to those around me. I also think D.A.R.E. should continue because it could help prevent millions of kids in the U.S. from getting addicted to drugs which could the lives of millions in the U.S.
