The Shelter Island School District on Long Island is the first in the country to use the DARE program’s newest curriculum to tackle the opioid crisis.
The Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, or DARE, teaches kids the importance of avoiding drugs and gangs.
Mark Medford, DARE’s northeastern regional director, said the new curriculum takes a hard look at the opioid crisis.
“Now DARE officers are given the tools necessary to go into a community and talk about the opioid crisis and the prevention side of that.”
Elementary level students will learn the basics such as who to call for help. Middle schoolers will learn about the dangers of prescription drugs and how to correctly read the label to prevent misuse. High schoolers will begin to tackle the reasons overdoses happen and talk about the overdose-counteracting drug Narcan.