View the D.A.R.E. PSA with Sheriff Brad Bennett

It's estimated that between 70%-90% of all crime in the U.S. is drug related, and that the age of those involved in these crimes seems to be getting younger. D.A.R.E. is just one way to deal with this problem before it gets to be an overwhelming issue in a community. By giving our children "life skills" or the tools to use early on in their lives, we can give them a better chance at building their lives. They will be making what are probably the most important decisions of their lives when their parents aren't there to guide them. It is hoped that they make the right choices, because they will have to live with the consequences of those choices for the rest of their lives.

The D.A.R.E. program began as a cooperative venture between the police department and school districts in Los Angeles, CA. The year was 1983. The program then spread across the nation as a proactive approach to a problem that just about every community has to deal with. In September of 1992, Benton County Sheriffs Office implemented the program in the Sauk Rapids/Rice School District and the Foley School District. The program had spread to every state in the United States of America, and to this date, D.A.R.E. is currently utilized in over 57 countries around the world!

For 16 weeks, the specially trained Deputy Sheriff, also known as a D.A.R.E. Officer, will spend time in each of the classrooms of primarily 5th or 6th grade students. Some of the lesson topics that are taught include:

• Different types of drugs and their effects on the body.
• How every choice has consequences.
• How to recognize peer pressure and how it works.
• Why self-esteem is important to understand.
• How to say "no" and look like you mean it.
• How to deal with stress without drugs.
• How and why to avoid violence.
• How to tell a good risk from a bad risk.
• Why it is important to have positive alternatives in your life.
• How the media can influence our choices.
• Why it is important to have good positive role models.

The last classroom lesson, the students present to their classmates an essay that they have written. They describe what they think is the most important things that they have learned in the D.A.R.E. program.

The 17th "lesson" is a culmination ceremony that includes the students' families on other community leaders. It is a time to recognize and honor all of the students that have completed the program. As of this date, 4729 students have been "D.A.R.E.'d" in Benton County.

Schools that receive the Benton County D.A.R.E. program include:

• Hillside Elementary
• Rice Elementary
• Sacred Heart School
• Trinity Lutheran School
• Foley Intermediate School
• St. Johns' Area School

This 1968 Harley Davidson with a side car was forfeited by a convicted drug dealer and will be used in anti-drug public awareness campaigns county wide.