| D.A.R.E. IS IN FULL SWING AT CLINTON
CITY SCHOOLS
1700 Students Impacted Since its Inception
Clinton, TN – Drug Abuse Resistance Education, known
as the D.A.R.E Program, is in full swing at Clinton City Schools
– including Clinton, North Clinton, and South Clinton
Elementary. Since its inception in 1995 under the leadership
of Chief Rick Scarbrough, Clinton’s then Community Relations
Officer, approximately 1700 area children have been impacted
by this collaborative effort of the Clinton Police Department,
Clinton School System, and community volunteers. Weekly classes
focusing on the dangers of drugs and how to deal with peer pressure
are conducted at each school for 5th-graders by Clinton Police
Department’s D.A.R.E. Officer, Det. Russell Barker.
During the 50-minute, interactive sessions, students are presented
D.A.R.E.’s core curriculum emphasizing key elements, such
as teaching students to recognize internal pressures like anxiety
and stress, and external pressures like peer attitudes and advertising,
along with the personal, social, and refusal skills to resist
these pressures. Students are also given an opportunity to openly
discuss the topics and share personal concerns and questions.
One week of the program, several Clinton High School students
participate in the D.A.R.E. education program, speaking with
the children about how to avoid common pitfalls as they move
into the higher grades.
“Although students may erroneously believe that ‘everyone’
is using drugs, alcohol, and tobacco, I am helping them understand
that it is not the norm among Clinton’s teen population,”
says Detective Barker, who began teaching the course in 2005.
“The positive reception by the students has been great.
And, I believe we are making a difference in the lives of our
youth,” he adds.
Created in 1993 in Los Angeles, California, D.A.R.E is a national
program designed to provide children with the life skills needed
to avoid the dangers of drugs, gangs and violence. It is estimated
that 26 million youth in the US and a total of 36 million worldwide
will benefit from D.A.R.E this year, which is in 75 percent
of US school districts and in 54 countries around the world.
The Department of Justice has identified many positive community
impacts of the program including improved communications between
youth and law enforcement that serve as a conduit to providing
information beyond drug-related topics. For more information,
visit www.dare.com or contact Russell
Barker at the Clinton Police Department.
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