Drug Abuse Resistance Education - D.A.R.E

The D.A.R.E. program was developed in Los Angeles, California in 1983 as a community partnership between the police and schools to help students avoid drugs and learn how to make healthy choices.  Today, the program is taught in all fifty states and over forty countries around the world.  Since 1997, Swatara Township Police Department has been involved in teaching the D.A.R.E. program to students at the elementary and middle school level. Approximately 2500 local students have been instructed on the consequences of and alternatives to substance abuse.  The D.A.R.E. program is funded through grants provided by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency.  Application for funding is made annually by the Swatara Township Police Department.   

This spring, 116 fifth grade students from Chambers Hill Elementary, Lawnton Elementary, Rutherford Elementary and Prince of Peace Parish School graduated from the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program.  This ten week program is designed to help children resist pressures to experiment with alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, inhalants, and other drugs.  Each student pledged to make wise decisions about these substances.

In order to graduate from the D.A.R.E. program, students were required to complete a D.A.R.E. student workbook, have good attendance, demonstrate good behavior during class, agree to keep his/her body free from harmful drugs, and write an essay that includes a pledge statement to make wise decisions about alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. The Swatara Township Police Department would like to congratulate each of those students and their families and thank the faculty of the schools for their cooperation and assistance.