School-based anti-drug education program proposed

MANILA, Philippines – Pointing out that illegal drugs have become a national epidemic, Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada vowed yesterday to propose to President Duterte the nationwide implementation of the Drug Abuse and Resistance Education (DARE) program.

Estrada introduced DARE, a school-based drug prevention program, in the country in 1993 when he was vice president and concurrent head of the Presidential Anti-Crime Commission (PACC).

“The drug menace is a nationwide problem already…now we are trying to revive DARE in line with the all-out war of President Duterte against drugs and propose that it be implemented nationwide,” Estrada said after meeting with the board of directors of DARE Philippines Association Inc., where he is the chairman, held at the Manila Hotel yesterday.

Aware of the extent of the country’s drug problem, Estrada said they are hoping to expand the coverage of DARE to save millions of youth from the drug menace.

He has been implementing the program in Manila since 2013.

“As I’ve said, prevention is better than cure, so that school children may know the effects of drug abuse and not to be involved in it. This is the bottom line – prevention,” Estrada said.

For school year 2016-2017, DARE is targeting 27,000 Grades 5 and 6 students who will be taught how to resist drugs and violence through classroom education and school-related activities.

“While we are conducting law enforcement operations against drug traffickers in our city, we will continue with our DARE program in the schools. Our objective remains the same: keep our youth away from drugs and make them responsible citizens in the future,” Estrada said.

He announced that 16 more members of the Manila Police District (MPD) will undergo a 10-day, intensive DARE Officers Training (DOT) for them to be certified as DARE officers.

Among the lessons being taught to prospective DARE officers are child development, classroom management, teaching techniques and communication skills.

The training will be conducted by eight DARE American mentors led by Scott Gilliam, a retired Los Angeles Police Department officer and now officer-in-charge of DARE International.

DARE employs experienced police officers as teachers. They go to classrooms teaching one-hour, once-a-week DARE lessons to Grades 5 and 6 students, their parents, principals and teachers.

The classroom instruction for each school is completed within three months.

The program aims to provide children and youth with knowledge, skills and an opportunity to explore attitudes, to help them make informed decisions, and to develop safe and healthy lifestyles.

Topics include the effects of  tobacco, alcohol, cannabis and volatile substances as well as bullying, anti-social behavior and different types of pressure.

The sessions are interactive and provide a range of learning opportunities through individual activities, teamwork, discussions, storyboards and appropriate role play.

Present at the meeting were DARE board members Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno; Tony Lopez, president of Equity World Securities; Abraham Co, president of Asian United Bank; Fred Yao, Zest-O president; Bienvenido Laguesma, former labor secretary; Tony Abacan; Titoy Pardo, former finance secretary; and lawyer Donna Gasgonia.

Founded in Los Angeles, California in 1983, DARE is an international, classroom-based substance abuse prevention and education program that seeks to prevent the use of prohibited drugs, membership in gangs, and violent behavior among the youth.

It is currently being implemented in 43 countries around the world, benefitting 36 million children.