FORT FAIRFIELD, Maine — Before a packed audience on a recent evening at Fort Fairfield Elementary School, local police officer Sgt. Jesse Cormier asked a group of 61 students a simple question.
“What day is it?” Cormier asked.
“DARE day!” the graduates responded in a raucous cheer.
That term, DARE, was also splashed across the red T-shirts the students wore. They were celebrating their recent completion of a series of classes on substance use prevention and, more broadly, making responsible life decisions.
But while the kids were excited for their milestone, the event might have carried just as much meaning for adults in the audience.
DARE, which formerly stood for Drug Abuse and Resistance Education, used to be a household name across the country.
Starting in 1983, the program enlisted police officers to coach students about the dangers of substance use, often advising them to just say no and handing out black T-shirts and other gear echoing the message in distinctive red and white letters.
But that version of DARE fizzled out by the late 1990s, mostly because it failed to keep kids away from drugs.
Now, DARE is making a comeback. Several Maine police departments have again gotten behind the program, including Gorham and East Millinocket. In Bangor, City Councilor Carolyn Fish advocated for bringing DARE back into local schools when she was running for the role in 2023. So far, Fort Fairfield Elementary School is the only school in northern Maine to try it.
But this is not the DARE most Mainers remember. The program has been revamped to focus on more than just drugs. Lessons now teach kids how to make good decisions and lead safe, healthy lives, according to the program’s mission statement.
The return of an overhauled version of DARE to Maine schools demonstrates how seriously communities all over the country have begun to take addiction and other behavioral health issues, in the wake of a deadly national overdose crisis that has stretched on for more than a decade.
Just as the DARE curriculum has evolved, many people have also come to accept that preventing that abuse is often more complicated than just saying no.
Fort Fairfield launched the new effort in January with DARE instructor Cormier, who is also the town’s nationally certified school resource officer, Fort Fairfield Police Chief Matthew Cummings said.
“We are the first police department and school district in Aroostook County to launch the revamped DARE program,” he said. “We currently have the only school resource officer in Aroostook and this is part of our efforts to help kids make good decisions, be comfortable with law enforcement and to bring a positive adult role model into our schools to help with safety, education and problem solving.”
So far teachers and students are enthusiastic, and Cummings attributed that to the restructuring of DARE.
What DARE was
Organizers of the original program believed enforcement alone wouldn’t work, but that a police officer teaching school-aged kids the dangers of drugs might, according to DARE International.
The program was innovative because it added a police officer to the classroom, the DARE organization said. Lectures targeted specific drugs and their negative effects.
For a while, DARE was popular, including in Presque Isle. The late Officer Tim McCue brought it to the schools there in 1992. McCue was lauded for his contributions and spent his last 11 years of service as a DARE instructor.
But later research showed the program did little to curb young people’s drug use, the organizers of DARE have said.
The lessons weren’t based on scientific evidence on prevention, which made it a bit controversial at the time, Cummings said.
“The general perception is that it did not help with reducing substance use,” he said. “It was phased out due to lack of certified instructors [and] lack of staff being willing to take the class.”
The reinvention
Many communities still embraced the concept of having police in schools, so organizers abandoned the old format while continuing to have officers serve as the messengers, according to DARE’s history.
The new program teaches kids how to respond to modern pressures, with fewer lectures and more participation. Classes are age appropriate, from first grade through high school. The organization uses the phrase “keepin’ it REAL” to promote the guidelines of refuse, explain, avoid and leave.
Through activities and role play, kids learn how to recognize risky behavior, cope with challenges and find support, according to American Addiction Centers, a nationwide group of addiction rehabilitation sites. The new program has fixed what was previously wrong with DARE, the centers said.
There’s also a new decision-making model that uses the DARE acronym, Cormier said: “decide” what the problem is, “assess” different ways to respond, “respond” safely and responsibly, and “evaluate” if the choice was a good one.
“This approach provides students with the tools necessary to manage everyday situations beyond just drug use,” he said. “Alcohol, tobacco and drug use is a choice, and by understanding the risks, the students are able to make a safe and responsible decision when faced with peer pressure or other situations.”
Rolling it out
Cummings has wanted to introduce the new DARE since he became chief in 2021, he said. With Cormier on board, he announced the rollout at a Town Council meeting in July.
Cormier, who started as the school resource officer in September, completed an intensive two-week training session with the New Hampshire State Police. A New Hampshire branch of DARE trains instructors for northern New England and is supported by grants and donations, its website states.
DARE Maine paid for Cormier’s education, and the first training booklets were provided by a Masonic lodge in Hancock County, Cummings said. The town got behind the effort, too, with Fort Fairfield’s Rotary Club and Quality of Place Council providing financial support along with private donations.
In mid-January, Cormier started DARE with 24 first graders and 37 fifth graders at Fort Fairfield Elementary School. There were eight lessons for the first grade and 10 for the fifth, he said. The graduation was held April 30.
What do kids learn?
The lessons encompass everyday things kids face, Cormier said. They’re taught to identify trusted adults, to use 911 properly and how to be safe around the home. They talk about substances, vaping, bullying, cyberbullying and more.
Through discussions and role-playing, kids learn communication skills, how to stand up for themselves and good responses to situations. The heart is the decision-making model, which helps them choose safe responses and be good citizens, he said.
Fifth graders wrote essays about their experiences, and classroom winners Blake Kelley and Natalie Malina shared what they learned during the graduation.
“It helps with confident communication and communicating effectively,” Blake wrote. “In DARE, I learned to recognize and resist peer pressure, thinking over my decisions and making safe and responsible choices.”
“During DARE I have learned to communicate non-verbally and verbally. I think others think I am more respectful,” Natalie wrote. “One big thing is you can make eye contact to show you are respectful and listening.”
When facing a problem, like having to share a book report in front of the entire class, the decision-making skills help her manage fear, she said.
Does it work?
A 2023 study from the nonprofit Public Library of Science looked at two fifth grade classes who had used the program, and found the delivery of keepin’ it REAL was helping deter the onset of alcohol use and vaping.
Scott Gagnon of Gray is the founder and lead consultant of Dirigo Empowerment Institute LLC, which consults with organizations on addiction and behavioral health. He believes today’s DARE can succeed.
That’s partly because drug prevention scientists, not law enforcement, developed the lessons, he said, And if you want a prevention program to be successful, it should be designed by experts.
“The new program is more about building decision-making skills, which research has found to be far more impactful for young people than how much they know or don’t know about a particular substance,” Gagnon said.
But one school-based prevention program can’t do the job all by itself, he said. Schools and communities need policies that reduce risk to kids, such as limiting youth exposure to the marketing of tobacco, alcohol and cannabis.
For Cormier, it’s already successful. Kids look forward to DARE days and feedback tells him they’re learning to navigate an increasingly complex world, he said. He’ll introduce it to middle school students next year, and has also been consulting with Presque Isle police on possibly starting the program in SAD 1.
“I have heard from teachers of both the first and fifth grade that they have personally observed the students using communication techniques and reporting bullying from the lessons that I have taught them,” he said.
“I wholeheartedly believe that the new DARE curriculum is making a profound impact.”
