By Cami Knott
DARE will return to Rockbridge County elementary schools in January for the first time in about a decade.
The national Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, which teaches fifth graders to resist drugs and peer pressure, will pick up where Be Safe Virginia, a classroom program for students who are in fourth grade and younger, leaves off.
Deputy Tyler Falls, the school resource officer at Central Elementary, said he and Deputy Scott Fitzgerald became certified to teach DARE’s new curriculum after attending a two-week training conference last month.
“We’re excited to bring it back,” Falls said. “It’s a chance to build relationships early and teach these kids real-life decision-making.”
Sheriff Tony McFaddin said staffing shortages caused DARE to fade out about 10 to 15 years ago. Since then, the county has assigned a school resource officer to every elementary school.
“The program puts our deputies in front of our youngest students and gives them face time with them, talking about important issues,” he said.
Each of the county’s four elementary schools—Central, Fairfield, Natural Bridge, and Mountain View—will participate in the program. The 10-week DARE course will begin in January for fifth graders, the oldest students at the elementary schools.
The original DARE program started in Los Angeles in 1983 and quickly spread nationwide. Its lessons focused on saying no to drugs, but studies later found little evidence that the approach worked.
A 1994 study by the Research Triangle Institute, a North Carolina research nonprofit, found that DARE had almost no measurable effect on whether teenagers used drugs. The U.S. Department of Justice partly funded the study.
“DARE’s limited influence on adolescent drug use behavior contrasts with the program’s popularity and prevalence,” the authors wrote. “An important implication is that DARE could be taking the place of other, more beneficial drug use curricula that adolescents could be receiving.”
The U.S. Department of Education removed DARE from its list of approved evidence-based programs in 2001. Many school districts dropped the program over the next decade.
DARE revamped
DARE introduced its new curriculum, “Keepin’ it REAL,” in 2009. By that time, Rockbridge County’s program was already winding down. The national update shifted the focus from “just say no” messaging to lessons about communication, decision-making, and handling peer pressure.
The new version of DARE was developed to improve on the original program, Falls said. The updated curriculum has reduced student drug use compared to students who didn’t participate, according to the American Addiction Centers, a national network of rehab facilities.
Falls said the lessons change each year to stay relevant.
“They’re reevaluating what we’re teaching—what’s effective, what’s not,” he said. “Next year, they’re putting vaping in because it’s become big. Instead of using the same book for 20 years, every year they’re taking things out and putting things in.”
Falls said each 35- to 45-minute session includes videos, group work, and real-life scenarios. Students discuss how to avoid risky situations and handle peer pressure. The program targets fifth graders.
Pre-K through fourth-grade students receive instruction through Be Safe Virginia. The county implemented the program in September. Lessons cover seatbelt and bus safety, internet awareness, and personal boundaries, Falls said.
The lessons also align with Virginia’s Standards of Learning, the statewide academic benchmarks that guide what students are expected to know at each grade level.
“Each lesson hits the SOLs teachers should already be covering,” Falls said. “We’re teaching safety and social skills while reinforcing what they need to learn in class.”
Falls said the sessions are often incorporated into students’ regular classrooms, especially for younger grades.
“If a teacher says, ‘This time isn’t working,’ we’ll move the lesson,” he said. “Education always comes first.”
Building relationships
“They see them as helpers, not just police officers.”
Adrienne Fallen, a kindergarten teacher at Central Elementary, said the Be Safe Virginia lessons help her students become more comfortable with the school resource officers.
“I think it’s great that the kids are building relationships with our SROs early,” she said. “They see them as helpers, not just police officers.”
Fallen said the lessons also give teachers a break. “It gives me a little time to do lesson planning or cut out little papers for activities,” she said.
Rockbridge County Superintendent Phillip Thompson said deputies teach the lessons at each elementary school a couple of times a month, depending on their availability.
“We’re trying not to take any time from the classroom,” he said. “We’re going to try to do it during PE or guidance.”
Joe D’Urso, a prevention educator with Project Horizon, said multiple programs can strengthen the message. He also visits schools to teach lessons on boundaries and conflict resolution.
“Rather than hearing it once, students hear it from multiple people—how to stay safe, communicate, manage feelings,” he said. “It’s good reinforcement.”
McFaddin said he wants more deputies to become certified to teach DARE in the coming year.
“We’re giving kids the tools to make smart choices,” he said. “If we can reach even a few of them early, that’s a win for everyone.”