To graduate from DARE you must:

1. Have good attendance for DARE classes and participate in class
2. Complete your DARE  book
3. Show good behavior in and out of class
4. Prepare and present a DARE report
5. Keep your body clean from drugs.

When your DARE Program is completed, we have a DARE graduation - a celebration of your hard work over the past 13 weeks. You may invite your family and friends to help you celebrate your graduation. So as long as you do what you need to do, you have no reason to worry about not passing DARE!

Writing a DARE report is not only a chance for you to express what you have learned in DARE, but it is also a chance for you to say how DARE made you feel, the impact it has made in your life, and how it is going to help you make healthy choices for the rest of your life. You have an opportunity to share with your classmates, teacher and DARE Officer what DARE means to you. Some of your classmates will also have the opportunity to read their DARE reports at your DARE graduation.

In the first DARE class you learned the definition of a drug; “anything that affects the way the mind and body works”. A drug could be something that may help our health, like special medication your parent might take if they suffer from migraine headaches or asthma. Alcohol is a drug and the legal drinking age is 19 years. Your parents might choose to drink alcohol - hopefully in moderation. If your parent is abusing a drug (misusing it), you need to talk to an adult you trust about what is happening. There are many community agencies that are available to support you and your family. We want you to grow up in a safe environment; sometimes your grownup might be making some poor choices. The community agencies could help your grownup to make better choices. These agencies are on our ‘LINKS’ Page.

You learned the facts about tobacco in DARE and, of course, you are concerned about this person.

One of the facts you learned is that tobacco contains nicotine, a highly addictive substance found in cigarettes. It may be difficult for the person to quit smoking because of the addiction to nicotine. It may take several attempts at quitting before the person is actually able to stop smoking. Try and be supportive and encourage the person that they can do it! Sometimes it helps a person to quit smoking to chew gum, chew on a straw, or distract themselves by going for a walk or becoming involved in other forms of exercise. Most smokers say they wish they never started - please remember this and the facts you learned in DARE so that you never start smoking. We have come a long way to protect non-smokers and smokers. There is a new law that protects children riding in cars. Adults cannot smoke in the car if there are children present.

In DARE you learned the facts about tobacco. We can be supportive and encourage your friend to quit and share the facts you have learned about tobacco. Talk to a grownup you trust or their grownup about them smoking. We can try to distract them from smoking by inviting them to do a physical activity like going for a bike ride or playing basketball. You also need to think about the friends you choose to be with, sometimes, although we encourage them not to smoke, they may continue to make poor choices. You may need to look at choosing other friends who are making better choices.

“E” or “Ecstasy” is the street name for MDMA (methylenedioxy methamphetamine), which is a hallucinogen and a stimulant. It is a drug that is frequently used by young people at raves (all-night dance parties). Ecstasy, usually found in pill form, is addictive! Some of the negative effects of ecstasy are nausea, vomiting, extreme overheating, severe dehydration, and increase in blood pressure, stroke or heart attack. It can also cause muscle tension, teeth clenching or grinding, blurred vision and hallucations. There is the potential for overdose as well.

If your friend is using Ecstasy you need to talk to them or to an adult you trust who could help your friend. There are many agencies that could offer help and support to your friend. Your friend is making poor choices that could affect their health and life. Your friend may be upset with you, but sometimes we need to tell others in order to help a friend who is making choices that could endanger their life.

Tell your friend not to drink alcohol they find lying around, or any alcohol for that matter. Alcohol affects young people more severely; they could get sick or go into a coma from the effects of the alcohol. Something else to consider is that you do not know if there is something else in the alcohol! You could also get into serious trouble with your family and the police. You must be 19-years old to drink, have, and purchase alcohol. Tell a grownup about the alcohol. Share the facts you learned about alcohol in DARE class.