PK’s Expanding the DARE Program for All Schools

As the back-to-school season approaches, the Kahnawake Peacekeepers are excited to announce the expansion of the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program to all Kahnawà:ke schools. The DARE program, led by trained police officers, offers a series of classroom lessons aimed at empowering students from kindergarten through grade 11 to resist peer pressure and lead drug and violence-free lives. Kyle Zachary is with the Kahnawake Peacekeepers:

“It’s actually been in trial for the last 2 school seasons, the years prior we were doing the elementary portion for grades 4, 5 and 6 at Kateri and Karonhianónhnha. We were doing it at grade 7 for  Survival School that year as well. Last year we focused on the high school at Survival School and this year we’re ready to roll it out for every grade for every school, if it’s possible.”

The DARE curriculum covers a range of vital topics. After a successful trial in select Kahnawà:ke schools during the 2022/2023 school year, Zachary saying that the program will now be available to any school within the community that wishes to participate:

“It’s a great program, it’s not like how it used to be when I was a kid growing up, DARE was: ‘just say no,’ it was all just saying no to drugs. It’s evolved now to include handling stress, there’s a curriculum on bullying and making good decisions and learning about consequences. It’s really more aimed at developing the whole student rather than ‘just say no’. “

For the 2024/2025 school year, the Kahnawake Peacekeepers have three certified instructors ready to deliver the DARE program. Each class will receive weekly, hour-long sessions over a period of 10 weeks, with a four-week course available for students in grade 9 and above.