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Whitfield County Sheriff's Office
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PUBLIC SERVICE – INTEGRITY – QUALITY – PROFESSIONALISM
The Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office began teaching the Drug Abuse Resistance Education Program in 1989. Since that time we have graduated approximately 34,000 students.
D.A.R.E. is an international program. The D.A.R.E. mission is “teaching students good decision-making skills to help them lead safe and healthy lives”. D.A.R.E. is a ten-week curriculum that teaches youth skills and techniques used in good decision-making. The lessons also teach the students to evaluate their decisions so they can learn to be productive citizens. It includes lessons about bullying, facts and health effects of alcohol and tobacco, peer pressure, resistance strategies, and stress as well.
D.A.R.E. is taught to fifth-grade students in each of the thirteen elementary schools in Whitfield County by 4 certified D.A.R.E. Officers. Each week a D.A.R.E. Officer visits the classroom to facilitate discussions about responsible decision-making.
The D.A.R.E. Program continues to help eradicate drug abuse and violence throughout the world. Our vision is to empower students to respect others and choose to lead lives free from substance abuse, violence, and other dangerous behaviors.
www.gdoa.com is no longer operational. Please use this site for any information concerning Georgia D.A.R.E.
You may also contact me at:
Sgt. Darlene Crider,
State Coordinator
Ph: (706)277-5356
Email: dcrider@whitfieldcountyga.com
Upon completion of the training, an officer will be certified to teach D.A.R.E. “keepin’ it REAL” Elementary and middle school curricula and be recognized as a school resource officer (SRO). If you are interested in sending an officer to the training please submit a letter of nomination to:
Sgt. Darlene Crider,
P. O. Box 1192
Tunnel Hill, GA 30755
Email: dcrider@whitfieldcountyga.com
D.A.R.E. is a substance use prevention education program designed to equip elementary school children with the skills for resisting peer pressure to experiment with alcohol and drugs. This unique program, developed in 1983 as a cooperative effort by the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles Unified School District, uses trained uniformed police officers to teach a formal curriculum to students in the classroom on a regular basis. By helping students develop self-management and resistance skills, D.A.R.E. is at the forefront of innovative programs designed to give young people the facts and to “inoculate” them against peer pressure.
Also, teach enhancement lessons on Prescription and Over The Counter drugs and Taking a Stand (Essays)
Several of the D.A.R.E. lessons focus on building students’ self-esteem, stressing that children that feel positively about themselves will be more capable of asserting themselves in the face of negative peer pressure. Still, other sessions emphasize the consequences of using tobacco, alcohol, and drugs and identify alternative means of coping with stress, gaining peer acceptance, and having fun. Through D.A.R.E., students learn that real friends will not push them into trying drugs, and that being grown-up means making their own decisions and coping with problems in a positive way. Most importantly, students learn and practice specific strategies for responding to peers who offer them these substances, rehearsing how to say no effectively.
Since D.A.R.E. began in 1983, it has continued to grow on the national and even international level. Currently, there are over 22,000 Officers teaching D.A.R.E. throughout the USA. D.A.R.E. is being taught in all fifty states and in several foreign countries. Over 25 million elementary school students have graduated from the D.A.R.E. program since its inception. The D.A.R.E. program was instituted in the Whitfield County, Georgia School System in 1988. The Whitfield County School Board approved the curriculum by a unanimous decision. In the first year, D.A.R.E. was taught in two pilot schools: Eastside and Fort Hill. D.A.R.E. is now being taught in all Whitfield County elementary schools. The D.A.R.E. Officers for the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office are: Lt. Tammy Silvers, Sgt. Darlene Crider, Dep. Nathan Center, and Dep. Ron Kirby.
The main goal of the D.A.R.E. program is to keep kids from getting on drugs. It is our sincere hope, at the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office, that this program will help kids to make it through the school years and into adulthood harboring a drug-free attitude. There is a war underway on our streets and in our homes. The only way to win this war is to start winning battles. The first battle that must be won is the one that is being fought within our children. Teach the child how to win this battle and the war is all but over.