Help support your local D.A.R.E. program!

Please donate your old clothing to help raise money for the D.A.R.E.  program. There are two clothes bins located in Southampton to help with this cause. One is located at the Town Hall parking lot and the other one is located on Moosebrook Road at the transfer station.

Thank you for your help!

Southampton’s Current DARE Program

  The Southampton Police Department, in conjunction with the Hampshire Regional School District, is pleased to announce that the DARE classroom curriculum has returned to the William E. Norris School for the 2004 – 2005 academic school year.  Funding for DARE had been eliminated following the 2001 – 2002 academic school year.  This ended the classroom instruction that had been introduced in Southampton in 1988.  Southampton’s DARE program proved to be successful over the years and in 1995 led to the introduction of the DARE Summer Day Program.  The DARE Summer Day Program was a two-week camp that was offered for several consecutive summers that reinforced the classroom lessons during summer months.  Due to the elimination of funding, that program also had to be discontinued.

In April of 2004, the Southampton Police Department received partial funding to restore the DARE classroom curriculum from the newly formed organization “DARE MASSACHUSETTS”.  Additional funding was received locally from private donations as well as a significant contribution from the Southampton PTO.  This funding allowed the DARE classroom curriculum to be reintroduced to both 5^th & 6^th grade classes at the William E. Norris School.

The History of DARE

In 1983 the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles Unified School District developed what is now known as the DARE program.  Based on the premise that prevention is the only long-term answer to drug abuse, the program was intended to significantly reduce drug use and abuse.  Over the years, the DARE curriculum was modified and updated to coincide with changing trends in drug use and abuse.  During that time, DARE continued to grow in popularity and was being taught in all 50 states as well as in several countries all over the world.

DARE’s concept of prevention was strengthened by the classroom presence of a uniformed police officer.  DARE relied on a “triangular method of involvement” to achieve success.  That is, three components were necessary to fulfill the program objectives.

1.      Police – a uniformed officer instructing the DARE curriculum created an opportunity for students to learn about the effects of drug abuse through the experiences of a police officer

2.      Schools – the importance of school support stressed that the program was accepted by the school district and important to every student in the community

3.      Parents – parental involvement is essential to any prevention program and bolsters the lessons learned by bridging the parent-child gap that sometimes surrounds openly discussing drugs & alcohol

DARE Program Objectives

The overarching goal of the entire DARE program is to significantly reduce/eliminate the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs and the use of violent behavior by young people.  The 5^th/6^th grade DARE program is the first in a series of three components (the remaining curricula are at the 7^th and 9^th grade levels.  The primary objectives of the 5^th/6^th programs are directed toward developing the capacities needed to enable students to take charge of their lives with particular emphasis on substance use and abuse.  Those objectives include the following:

1. Students will understand the physical, emotional, social, and legal risks and effects of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and inhalants on their developing brains and bodies.
2. Students will compare and contrast the normative beliefs of peers in their classroom with the national data about teen use of ATOD and where dissonance emerges, revise their understandings/beliefs about how many peers do not use ATOD.
3. Students will expand their knowledge about a variety of positive things to do in their school and community (pro-social behavior) that do not involve the use of ATOD and will choose to engage in those activities rather than use ATOD.
4. Students will understand what refusal strategies, sound communication skills, and assertiveness and resistance skills are and will be able to apply them in developmentally appropriate ways in a variety of life-like situations.

During DARE classes, the officer will present the lesson topics in a learning environment that promotes cooperative learning in three different ways; independent learning, paired learning, and group learning.  Opportunities for paired learning and group learning enables each student to discuss social situations about ATOD within their peer group.  Paired and group learning activities also promote mutual cooperation among other members of their peer group.

Each student is provided with a DARE planner that serves as a workbook that coincides with the lessons of the program.  Use of the DARE planner allows students to document their progress throughout the DARE program.  Each lesson is concluded with an opportunity for students to journal what they learned during the lesson.  By journaling, students are able to document in their own words the information they obtained during the lesson.

At the conclusion of the 9-week program, all students are asked to submit an essay describing what they learned during DARE that they feel is important to them.  It is also an opportunity for them to make a commitment to stay free of tobacco use and drug & alcohol abuse.  All students are encouraged to read their essays for the class and their DARE officer.

Completion of the program is celebrated by a graduation ceremony during which certain awards are presented.  Parents, family, friends, teachers, members of the community and elected officials are all invited to attend.

  DARE Summer Day Program (DARE Camp)

The DARE Summer Day Program was introduced in 1995.  The Summer Day Program, known as “DARE Camp”, was a two-week program during summer that reinforced the lessons learned during the academic school year.  It enabled police officers, with the assistance of DARE peer leaders, to interact with DARE students in an out-of-classroom environment.  DARE Camp consisted of indoor and outdoor recreational & competitive activities that promoted positive alternatives to drug & alcohol abuse.  It also promoted cooperative peer interaction by allowing camp participants to work in teams that were often changed and mixed.  Camp participants would also receive one hour of DARE instruction each day of camp.

In addition to daily recreational activities and DARE lessons, each day would feature a special visit from a guest speaker, presenter, or public safety agency.  Over the years, such visits have included the following guest speakers and/or agencies.

• Southampton Fire Department
• Southampton Police Department
• MA State Police K-9 Unit
• MA State Police Helicopter Unit
• University of Massachusetts Police Department, Mounted Patrol Division
• Maj. Thomas Ricardi (Ret.), MA Environment Police
• Maj. Ricardi is dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of birds of prey and displayed such birds of prey as owls, kestrels, hawks and a bald eagle.
• Springfield Police Department, Motorcycle Unit
• Smokey Bear

Due to funding deficiencies, the DARE Summer Day Program has been discontinued.  Efforts are underway to secure funding for the future.

If you have any questions or would like to make any contributions the the Southampton D.A.R.E. program, please feel free to contact
the D.A.R.E. Officer