D.A.R.E NZ

Dare to make a Choice is very much a community owned programme, where the school and the community, of which the Police are very much a part, take responsibility for enabling and educating young people to make sensible choices about their use of drugs. As such, Dare to make a Choice is an important community policing initiative with the focus on the school.

A distinctive feature of Dare to make a Choice is the partnership that develops between the teacher and the police education officer. The teacher is the partner who knows the students well and has an ongoing relationship with them. The teacher has built up a supportive classroom environment in which the students feel valued and secure. The police officer is the partner who knows about and represents community concerns about drug misuse. As respected members of the community these officers are able to communicate with young people about drug issues in a credible way. Police education officers are trained to support classroom teachers in the learning activities. They are able to work with youngsters on a level that is meaningful to them and build positive relationships with both the teacher and the students.

DARE NZ is a comprehensive drug resistance education strategy initiated by the New Zealand Police. This whole drug initiative fits within the Police Youth Education Service, which has as its prime concern the welfare, health and security of young people.

Initial research into an effective approach police could adopt for such drug education looked at the work of Gilbert Botvin at Cornell University, and at the highly successful Drug Resistance Education (DARE) Programme in Los Angeles. They feature a social competency approach. However, all materials which will form part of DARE NZ will be completely written by New Zealand teachers and police education officers.

DARE NZ has been designed to fit within the revised syllabus for schools, Health Education in the Primary and Secondary Schools (1 985), as students develop a sense of responsibility for their own health and drug use and take constructive action for their personal health. At the heart of DARE NZ is the Dare to make a Choice module, the part of the programme for 8 to 12 year olds.