D.A.R.E. ( Drug Abuse Resistance Education) is a collaborative effort by D.A.R.E. certified law enforcement officers, educators, students, parents, and community to offer an educational program in the classroom to prevent or reduce drug abuse and violence among children and youth.

The program content for D.A.R.E. is organized into nine 45 minute lessons to be taught by a law enforcement officer with suggested extended activities to be integrated into other instruction by the classroom teacher. A specially trained officer is assigned to the school one day a week for one semester to conduct weekly lessons in grades 5 or 6. Suggested extended interdisciplinary activities to be integrated with other subjects as time permits are listed in the publication titled D.A.R.E. Instructional Activity Guide for teachers, Grades 5-6.

D.A.R.E. offers a variety of interactive, group-participation, cooperative-learning activities which are designed to encourage students to solve problems of major importance in their lives. An important element of D.A.R.E. is the use of student leaders who do not use drugs as positive role models in influencing younger students.

The D.A.R.E. program- offered in concert with other school-based prevention activities and intervention strategies for the identification, early intervention, and aftercare support of students at risk for substance abuse, may be viewed as a comprehensive substance abuse program that meets the goals of the federal Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act.

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G.R.E.A.T. Program
Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.)

The G.R.E.A.T. Program was developed by the ATF, the Phoenix Police Department, and other Phoenix Metropolitan Area law enforcement agencies to prevent youth crime in the community. This program, now being taught in more than 1,100 communities nationwide, centers around the nine core lessons taught by law enforcement officers to middle school students. G.R.E.A.T. also has optional programs that can be implemented at the 3rd/4th grade level, 5th/6th level, and a summer component that adds structure during summer vacation.

G.R.E.A.T. is designed to discourage crime and gang violence, which has reached epidemic proportions. Confrontation with violence and intimidation has become daily routine for many children in our neighborhoods and communities. Some have had their lives destroyed through incarceration after some senseless act of gang wars, or drive-by shootings. G.R.E.A.T. attempts to provide children with ways to avoid being drawn into crime and gang violence.

The program is designed to help middle school students become responsible members of their communities, by setting goals for themselves, resisting pressures, learning how to resolve conflicts, and understanding how gangs impact the quality of life. G.R.E.A.T. is a nine week program, culminating with a certificate of graduation, a new philosophical outlook concerning gang activity and the tools needed to resist gang pressure.
The project began in Phoenix, Arizona in late 1991. Police officers from valley agencies with extensive backgrounds in teaching crime prevention combined their efforts with a middle school principal and began developing the school based component. The initial draft was then forwarded to seven Phoenix school districts for review by their curriculum specialists prior to implementing the program.