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Nottawasaga OPP offering D.A.R.E. project outside of the public school classroom

March 17, 2022   ·   0 Comments

Members of the Nottawasaga Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), with support of the Nottawasaga Police Services Board, and in partnership with the Township of Adjala–Tosorontio, the Town of New Tecumseth and Essa Township, will soon launch a new D.A.R.E. school pilot project, open to Grade 5 and 6 students, later this month.

D.A.R.E. – or Define, Assess, Respond, Evaluate – is a police-facilitated anti-drug and drug information program, designed to assist students in making safe and responsible choices for a healthy lifestyle.

Lessons will provide participating students with information on health effects and facts related to drugs, risks and consequences, peer pressure, stress, communication, and bullying.

“The program is a fun, interactive, positive learning environment where the students become engaged in the learning process and practice problem solving to support good decision making in their day to day life,” said D.A.R.E. program lead Provincial Constable Shawn Evans of the Nottawasaga OPP. “We refer to the problem solving model as the DARE Decision Making Model or DDMM. Each week in the program, students use the DDMM to make safe and responsible choices for a healthy lifestyle. The DDMM is used to help students make choices in relation problems, challenges, and or opportunities.”

Although D.A.R.E. had been previously offered in area schools within the Simcoe County District School Board catchment area, the board removed the program from classrooms in October 2021 – after 24 years and more than 22,000 student graduates.

With the D.A.R.E. program still being offered at local Catholic elementary schools – by Officer Jeremy Daniels and Officer Cindy Jacome of Nottawasaga OPP – Constable Evans says he is hopeful that D.A.R.E. will be expanded to other physical locations for students to attend at the conclusion of the pilot program.

While it may be too early to feel the impact of removing D.A.R.E. from local public schools, Constable Evans says he has learned from local teachers that anecdotally, students in the schools, post COVID, seem to have an increased level of anxiety and a decreased level of resilience.  

“I firmly believe the content of the D.A.R.E. program is exactly what is currently needed by students, perhaps more than ever,” said Constable Evans. “As a D.A.R.E. officer, the most informative time is always at the end of the program when students hand-in a required essay. The students are required to describe something they have learned in the program, and how this information will assist them in their lives. The students always do a magnificent job with these essays and it is very enlightening to read what students have learned. Often, I will read an essay from a student who has been a silent observer in the ten classes. I am frequently impressed and thrilled by what these students write in their essays about what they have learned and how it will help them.”

The Times asked Constable Evans about the success of former D.A.R.E. graduates, and he says, “Two former Grade 6 D.A.R.E. graduates of Officer Harry Lawrenson are starting their police careers this month. One student is Broderick (Brodie) Gabrek of Alliston, now 22, who attended at Ernest Cumberland Public Elementary School and is starting a career with the RCMP. The second student is a local woman who has been hired by the OPP and started her training at the Ontario Police College last Tuesday. All of the present and past D.A.R.E. instructors at our detachment have had numerous students in high school report to them how the program has helped them make safe and responsible choices during their time in secondary school.”

Evans says that if there is a silver lining from removing the program from public school, is it “affords police and students the opportunity to interact with each other in a very positive way. It helps police officers understand how important students are in our communities and it helps students get to know police officers in a positive learning environment.”

The new pilot program will be offered at no cost to the first 26 students to register, and held at the Adjala–Tosorontio Municipal Office at 7855 30^th Sideroad, in Alliston.

The one-hour classes will be provided on Thursday evenings starting March 24, and run for 10-weeks from 4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m., through May 26. The D.A.R.E. graduation is scheduled for June 2. Parents are welcome to attend all classes.

“Students who attend the program learn skills they can use in everyday life. D.A.R.E. is so much more than a drug prevention program,” continues Constable Evans. “Students will participate in an active learning environment with a certified instructor and will explore topics such as how to be responsible for themselves, and to others; facts and health effects of common drugs and how to use this information in making safe and responsible choices; positive and negative risks and consequences, and how to factor this into their decision making; positive and negative peer pressure and different resistance strategies to handle peer pressure; stress and how they are affected by it, the concept of empathy and eliminating the issue causing the stress.”

Evans also told The Times that students spend two classes exploring verbal and non-verbal communication, and effective listening.

“Students learn to be more active listeners and confident communicators,” said Constable Evans. “Students will learn how to resolve conflict through effective communication and explore the topic of bullying and learn ways to safely report bullying and help those who are being bullied. We will also explore what it means to be a good citizen and they develop their own ‘help network’ for times when they need help.”

As for students who think they “already know it all”, Evans says they can benefit from the D.A.R.E. program too.

“Like with any group of people, there are some students in every class who are very knowledgeable about the lesson topics,” said Constable Evans. “For students in this category, D.A.R.E. serves as a reinforcement for what they already know and practice. In every class there are a significant percentage of students who have benefited greatly by the material taught. By delivering this program through the schools since 1998, I have felt very comfortable that the students who really need this program the most are getting the information and reinforcement they need, because they are getting in the classroom. What worries me about removing this program from the schools, is that there are going to be many students who could really benefit from the D.A.R.E. program who will miss out on this opportunity.”

D.A.R.E. is offered at no cost since there is a surplus in instructional material as a result of the program being cancelled by the public board.

“The program has been funded in our detachment area since 1998 exclusively through donations,” said Constable Evans. “We have no intention of ever charging money to attend the program. We have a number of funding options available to us.” 

Constable Evans has been a police officer for 35 years, with 28 of those years spent participating in criminal investigations in a “reactive” way. D.A.R.E. teaches the exact opposite skill set.

“I have had a very rewarding and challenging career and I retired in the early spring of 2018 on a very high note. I returned to work on contract at Nottawasaga OPP in the summer of 2018, and have been teaching D.A.R.E. since I returned to work on contract,” said Constable Evans. “I can tell you with absolute certainty that being an elementary school resource officer and teaching D.A.R.E. has been the highlight of my 35-year policing career. This positive interaction between police and students learning the topics covered in the program has had such a positive impact on my life. When I read each and every D.A.R.E. essay completed by the students I have taught, it is very clear to me that they love the program and they always learn something very important that plays a small part in setting them up for happiness and success in life.”

To request more information or to register for the local D.A.R.E. pilot

email opp.nottawasaga.DARE.school@opp.ca and find forms at collaboratenottawasaga.ca/d-a-r-e-school.

By Wendy Gabrek

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