D.A.R.E. provides students from kindergarten through high school with the skills necessary to recognize and resist pressures to experiment with drugs and to avoid gangs and violence. Lessons emphasize self-esteem, decision making, interpersonal communications skills, the consequences of drug abuse, conflict resolution and positive alternatives to substance abuse.

In order to be certified to instruct D.A.R.E., a police officer is first interviewed by a panel of police executives, D.A.R.E. Officers and school administrators. If approved, the officer must then complete two weeks (80 hours) of intensive training by Ohio’s accredited Training Center.

The most important facet of D.A.R.E. is the use of specially trained police officers to deliver the curriculum within the schools. Police Officers are accepted as authorities on drug abuse, as they deal with drug abuse and its consequences on a daily basis.