D.A.R.E.

By : Amitej Babra

D.A.R.E. Drugs, Abuse, Resistance, Education. DARE has taught me how and when to

make smart choices, how to be confident with my answers, how to stand up, and how to respond

under pressure. When someone tells you to do something bad, say NO. Without DARE, who

knows what would have happened to me or my future. Thanks to my DARE Officer, now I can

make my own responsible choices.

We learned the DDMM to start DARE. The DARE DECISION MAKING MODEL. This

is the best way to make decisions when you don’t know what to do. For example, your friend

asks you to take a beer for twenty bucks, but you know you are too young to drink.What do you

do? First, you Define your problem. The problem is that you know you are too young to drink

but if you don’t, you won’t get twenty bucks. Then, you Assess. What are your choices? You can

maybe drink the beer and get blamed for underaged drinking, or be safe and not get in trouble.

After that, you Respond to the problem. Make your choice. I would refuse to take the drink..

Finally, you Evaluate how your choice was. I KNOW my choice was good because if you drink

it you will be in big trouble for underaged drinking , but if you don’t drink it, you will be safe.

Another main thing we learnt in DARE was resistance strategies. If someone offers you a

cigarette, you can change the subject. For example, you are playing tag and someone asks you to
smoke. Change the subject by saying let's play tag instead. You can also walk away and say NO.

You can stay away. You can be in a group so you not in danger.

Something else we were taught was peer pressure. That is when your peer or someone

your age tries to make you do something that might not always be good. When you are

pressured to do something, it is hard to not do it because it can be your best friend telling you. So

that is why DARE helps you make smart decisions when it comes to peer pressure.

Signs of stress is something we also learned. Signs of stress could be frustration, anger,

getting sweaty, or getting hot. To control that, all you have to do is to close your eyes, and take

deep breaths. Bullying is a big problem for many people. So that is why we learnt the 5 W’s to

report bullying. The first one is Who. Then is What. After that is When. Then Where. And

finally, Why. This is the best way to report bullying. Sometimes bullying can cause stress.

Overall, DARE was real fun. We also got to watch videos about 4 kids dealing with

problems, and how they solved it. DARE has helped so much that now I can make my own

responsible decisions. Now since I know all about DARE, and how to make my own choices, I

can have a safe and secure future.