MARINE CORPS AIR STATION BEAUFORT, S.C. -- Students from Bolden Elementary School graduated the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program on Laurel Bay Dec. 8.
The fifth-grade class completed the 10-week class based on potential situations and the negative effects of illegal drugs. At the end of the course students wrote an essay on what they learned from the curriculum.
“I taught the course over a 10-week period so I wanted to try to make it as interactive as possible,” said Cpl. Chris Stephens, the school resource officer for Laurel Bay schools. “The D.A.R.E program can help create good habits that the students can use the rest of their lives with everything from bullying and peer pressure to substance abuse.”
According to their website, the overall goal of D.A.R.E is to teach students the benefits of good decision-making skills that can help create a world which students are free to live their lives free from violence and drug abuse.
“The only person in charge making your decisions is you and now you have the resources and guidance to help you make them,” Jason Clark, a former Marine and the guest speaker for the graduation. “The choices you make today will affect your tomorrow.”
D.A.R.E was founded in 1983, and is now taught in more than 50 countries around the world, according to the D.A.R.E website.
“Saying no to peer pressure can be hard to do when you’re at such a young age,” said Dr. Angela Stephens, the principal of Bolden. “I can already see good habits the D.A.R.E. program has instilled in our students and I can absolutely tell they’re going to benefit from this program.”