D.A.R.E. Keepin' It Real Program

Bristol Police Department officer Bob Osborne of Farmington, CT, spends much of his free time giving back to his community. One of the programs that Bob Osborne supports in the Farmington, CT, area is D.A.R.E., which seeks to prevent elementary and middle school students from getting involved with drugs and other criminal activity.

Though D.A.R.E. primarily focuses its efforts on drugs and violence, the lessons learned with its Keepin' It REAL curriculum extend into other healthy lifestyle decisions and give students the tools they need to make good choices throughout their lives. Based on the Socio-Emotional Learning Theory, this curriculum helps students by identifying the skills and processes they need to develop social, emotional, and mental models that they can continue to use forever.

Mutual understanding, communication, and decision-making are a few of the skills the program highlights. By encouraging young people to consider the potential consequences of their actions and control impulses, it equips participants with the ability to do more than just resist the temptation of drugs and alcohol. The curriculum includes 10 lessons, which initially focus on decision-making and then build outward from one another.