Red Oak
Police Department and

 

Red Oak Police Departments
D.A.R.E. Officer

We are very fortunate to have Sgt. Dan Crouse as our D.A.R.E. Officer, not only is he good at what he does - he cares about our youth.  Dan was a Sergeant with the Police Department and upon his resignation, the program was unfortunately discontinued.  Fortunately, we were able to bring Sgt. Dan back to the Department, as a Reserve Officer and to the Red Oak Schools for the continuation of the D.A.R.E. Program.
Sgt. Dan was the Iowa D.A.R.E. Officer of the Year in 1998 and is a very respected member of the Department and the Red Oak Community.  His dedication, integrity, love for youth and law enforcement experience add to the credibly of our D.A.R.E. program.

Mission

D.A.R.E.'s primary mission is to provide children with the information and skills they need to live drug-and-violence-free lives. Additionally, it establishes positive relationships between students and law enforcement, teachers, parents, and other community leaders. Every youngster should have the opportunity to grow-up healthy, safe, secure, and equipped with the skills needed to succeed in life.  Contemporary America, however, is rampant with challenges that could keep children from a positive life path. The mission is to equip kids with the tools that will enable them to avoid negative influences and instead, allow them to focus on their strengths and potential. And, that's exactly what D.A.R.E. is designed to do.
In Red Oak, our mission is to prevent drug use and to promote violence free lives for our most precious and valuable resource...our youth.  It is our goal to give the students sound principles for positive living, relationships and a high quality of life.  We will lead the way, in this endeavor, with influential educational lessons and the presence of positive role models.

I DARE TO DREAM    I DARE TO SAY YES TO POSITIVE ALTERNATIVES    I DARE TO SAY NO TO DRUGS USE   I DARE TO BE A POSITIVE INFLUENCE
BECAUSE I AM A WINNER!!

D.A.R.E.  Curriculum

Part of the reason D.A.R.E. (Drugs Abuse Resistance Education) works so well is because it is a collaborative effort between your Red Oak Police Department, your Red Oak Community School District, the parents, and many supportive community leaders.  D.A.R.E. works because it surrounds children with support and encouragement from all sides.

D.A.R.E. teaches kids how to recognize and resist the direct and subtle pressures that influence them to experiment with alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and other drugs.  And since, between 70% and 90% of all crime is drug related, it is absolutely vital that we reach the children of Red Oak before it is too late.

The D.A.R.E. program is usually introduced to children in the 5th or 6th grade. Dan Crouse, who is a  specially trained officer, comes into the Red Oak School District one day a week for seventeen weeks and teaches the kids. And, to make it easy for teachers, we've designed the D.A.R.E. curriculum to integrate easily into their other lessons. Student participation in the D.A.R.E. program may be incorporated as an integral part of the school's curriculum in health, science, social studies, language arts, or other subjects.

D.A.R.E Overview

Lesson 1:  Introducing DARE
Introduced the DARE Program to students

Lesson 2:  Understanding the Effects of Mind-Altering Drugs
To help students develop knowledge of basic drug facts and the harmful effects of mind-altering drugs if used.

Lesson 3:  Considering Consequences
To help students understand there are many consequences that may result from the use of drugs.

Lesson 4:  Changing Beliefs About Drug Abuse
To make students aware of the actual extent of drug use among adolescents
and the kinds of peer pressure to use drugs.

Lesson 5:  Learning Resistance Techniques - Ways to Say NO
To help students learn and practice effective ways to respond to different
kinds of peer pressure to use drugs.

Lesson 6:  Building Self-Esteem
To help students understand that self esteem result from positive and
negative feelings and experiences.

Lesson 7:  Learning Assertiveness - A Response Style
To teach assertiveness as a technique for refusing offers to use drugs or other situations where it would be helpful.

Lesson 8:  Managing Stress Without Taking Drugs
Students recognize stress encountered in their daily living and to suggest ways to deal with it other than by taking drugs.

Lesson 9:  Reducing Violence
Students recognize that destructive acts of violence are inappropriate ways to deal with anger and to resolve disagreements.

Lesson 10:  Combating Media Influence on Drug Use and Violence
Develop an understanding and skills to analyze how the media can influence the way people think, feel and act about drugs.

Lesson 11:  Making Decisions About Risky Behavior
To help students apply the decision making process in evaluating the consequences of various kinds of risk-taking behavior.

Lesson 12:  Saying YES to Positive Alternatives
To help students find activities that are interesting and rewarding
alternatives to drug use.

Lesson 13:  Having Positive Role Models
To acquaint students with high school leaders who do not use drugs and to clarify the misconception that drug users are in the majority.

Lesson 14:  Resisting Gang and Group Violence
To help students recognize the negative consequences of gang and group violence and to help them resist becoming involved.

Lesson 15:  Summarizing DARE Lessons
To help students summarize and assess what they have learned
from participation in DARE.

Lesson 16:  Taking a Stand
To help students respond effectively when they are pressured to use drugs.

Lesson 17:  DARE Culmination
An activity which recognizes individual achievement of all participants and reinforces the values and skills they have learned.

PARENTING SKILL TIPS

15 Ways To Help Children Like Themselves

1.  Reward children. Give praise, recognition, a special privilege or increased responsibility for a job well done. Emphasize the good things they do, not the bad.

2.  Take their ideas, emotions and feelings seriously. Don't belittle them by saying, "You'll grow out of it" or "It's not as bad as you think."

3.  Define limits and rules clearly, and enforce them. But do allow leeway for you children within these limits.

4.  Be a good role model. Let your children know that you feel good about yourself. Also let them see that you too can make mistakes and can learn from them.

5.  Teach your children how to deal with time and money. Help them spend time wisely and budget their money carefully.

6.  Have reasonably expectations for your children. Help them to set reachable goals so they can achieve success.

7.  Help your children develop tolerance towards those with different values, backgrounds and norms. Point out other people's strengths.

8.  Give your children responsibility. They will feel useful and valued.

9.  Be available. Give support when children need it.

10.  Show them that what they do is important to you. Talk with them about their activities and interests. Go to their games, parent's day at school, drama presentations, awards ceremonies.

11.  Express your values, but go beyond "do this" or "I want you to do that." Describe the experiences that determined your values, the decisions you made to accept certain beliefs, the reasons behind your feelings.

12.  Spend time together. Share favorite activities.

13.  Discuss problems without placing blame or commenting on a child's character. If children know that there is a problem but don't feel attacked, they are more likely to look for a solution.

14.  Use phrases that build self-esteem, such as, "Thank you for helping" or "That was an excellent idea!" Avoid phrases that hurt self-esteem, "Why are you so stupid?", "How many times have I told you?"

15.  Show how much you care about them. Hug them. Tell them they are terrific and that you love them.

RED OAK POLICE DEPARTMENT
AND D.A.R.E. FUNDING

Funding for the Red Oak D.A.R.E. Program completely relies on the generous donations of many businesses, the Red Oak Morning Optimist Club, fundraisers such as the Annual D.A.R.E. & K-9 Golf Tournament and anonymous donations.  The D.A.R.E. Program receives no funding from the police department or the schools budget.  Therefore, it is imperative to rely on the generosity of many individuals and businesses, to maintain the quality of educational program D.A.R.E. has been able to provide.  If you are a supporter of the D.A.R.E. Program, in Red Oak, and wish to make a donation to the continuous operation of the program please carefully consider doing so.  With law enforcement agencies facing reductions in service programs, unfortunately, educational, community policing and School Resource Officers will be considered in the initial elimination.  The Red Oak Police Department appreciates your support and your generosity in keeping this program available in our community.  We would also like to acknowledge the foresight caring of Mayor Jim Johnson and the Red Oak City Council for their support of D.A.R.E.

D.A.R.E. AMERICA

D.A.R.E. INTERNATIONAL