DARE Program

The Irvine Police Department, in conjunction with the Irvine Unified School District and the Tustin Unified School Distict, sponsors the Drug Abuse Resistance Education Program, or D.A.R.E. Program, at several Irvine Elementary schools. 

D.A.R.E. is a drug education and prevention program taught in the 5th or 6th grades with a primary emphasis on helping students to recognize drugs and realize their effects. The program provides accurate information about alcohol and drugs and aims to equip youths with skills needed to resist the peer pressure to experiment with harmful drugs.

D.A.R.E. also teaches children decision making skills and provides ideas of alternative ways for kids to spend their time. Additional lessons are also taught on bullying, youth laws and internet safety. The program is unique in that all instructors are uniformed police officers who dedicate their time to educate the youth of the Irvine Schools.

For more information about the D.A.R.E. program, contact the Irvine Police Department main offices, located at 1 Civic Center Plaza, between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday or call 949-724-7000.