D.A.R.E. Elementary School Curriculum

Bob Osborne is a resident of Farmington, CT, and a law enforcement officer who has served with the Bristol Police Department since 2002. Named Officer of the Year in 2006, Bob Osborne is an active member of the Farmington community and supports organizations such as the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program. 

Since its establishment in 1983, D.A.R.E. has remained committed to teaching children the skills they need to lead lives free of drugs and violence. The organization’s keepin’ it REAL elementary school curriculum identifies the fundamental skills and processes required for healthy development, among them communication, self-awareness, and responsibility. By teaching young people how to evaluate potential consequences, the program promotes impulse control and healthy decision-making about not just drugs, but relationships, schoolwork, and social lives, as well. Currently, the D.A.R.E. curriculum is taught in 75 percent of the United States’ school districts and in more than 52 countries worldwide.

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.