On December 19, 2018, the Paulding County D.A.R.E. program had a DA.R.E. Graduation for the 5th graders of Payne Elementary. Graduation is a time for the kids to think back on what they have learned in D.A.R.E. and it’s a time to reward the kids for completing the 12 week program. At the end of the 12 week program each student has to write an essay. Once the essays are turned in, the top essays are picked and the winners are announced during D.A.R.E. graduation. Deputy Mendez said the essays winners were Emma Stouffer, Stella Laukhuf, Kaden Wilcox and Tanner Laukhuf. There was also an overall essay winner and that winner was Ryan Parker. “Every 5th grader did an amazing job on their essays and it’s because of their essay’s, I know they are ready to make responsible choices”, says Deputy Mendez.
During the graduation ceremony each kid received a certificate, a medal and a D.A.R.E. t-shirt for completing the program. The 5th graders also had a cookie party.
My D.A.R.E. Essay
By: Kaden Wilcox
Do you know how sometimes you walk into a classroom and learn something really cool? Well, I do and that’s how I felt learning about the D.A.R.E. program. Let me tell you about it.
Consequences are something you will have to deal with your whole life. They can be good or bad based on the choices you make for yourself and sometime can have long term effects on your life. For example, a good consequence is getting house points at school for helping a teacher or friend. On the other hand, a bad consequence is getting a sign in at school for cheating on a test or not getting your homework done on time.
I also learned that medicine is a type of drug and can have a good effect on your health if you use it correctly. Medicine is a good type of drug because it will help you when you are sick. You should not take medicine if you are not sick, because it could make you sick or hurt your body if you use it ways you shouldn’t.
As you have seen, I have learned a lot in D.A.R.E. Also, I had a lot of fun learning the things that I learned. Finally, I think you will like D.A.R.E. to.
Dare Essay
By: Tanner Laukhuf
I am Tanner Laukhuf, as you probably know. My three lessons that stood out to me are the five strategies, learning about drugs and taking risks. It is important to educate yourself about all of these.
In this paragraph, I am going to be talking about the five strategies. The five strategies are avoiding the situation, strength in numbers, walking away, saying no while giving a reason or cause, and changing the subject. You always want to avoid the situation because you could hurt yourself or get caught. You always want to be around more than two people when you are in town or somewhere with a lot of people. If you have a lot of people you can say no to what they are trying to get you to do. They might have a gun and threaten you with it. Do not let yourself get distracted and start doing drugs or bad things. Giving a cause or a reason while saying no is another big thing because if you have enough reasons or excuse maybe they will not force you to do it. Someone might ask you if you want a cigarette, just say no, and do something good, not something harmful to your body. In conclusion, these are the five strategies that you might use in your life.
Next, I will be talking about drugs. There are different kind of drugs. One kind of drug is medications we take. Medications can help you feel better when you are sick. There are certain kind of drugs that may change the way you act, but it might not be bad. Pop, coffee or energy drinks can change the way you act or make you hyper. These are some drugs that we talked about in dare that are not necessarily harmful when used correctly.
My last lesson I am going to be talking about is taking a risk. There are so many ways you can take chances. You could take chances in a big, small, and very bad way. A big way would be to try to get down the Grand Canyon and back up in an hour. A small way would be to try to jump over a little rain puddle. Trying to speed away from the cops would be an example of a bad risk. Use good judgment when you are faced with taking risks!
In conclusion, Dare is such an important thing to have taught to you in your school. There is so many more things I could have discussed! Dare can teach lifelong lessons which can save you from many personal disasters. What a difference Dare can make in your life.
D.A.R.E. Essay
By: Emma Stouffer
I will be telling you about some of the things we have learned during D.A.R.E. program. D.A.R.E. stands for define, assess, respond, and evaluate. These are the topics I will be about in my essay. It is a program where kids learn how to handle different situations and to make smart choices in life.
The first topic I learned about was resistance strategies. One strategy is avoiding the situation. When there are people doing something bad you shouldn’t join in. Another strategy is strength in numbers. This is when there are more people doing good things and less people doing bad things. A third strategy is walking away when people want you to do something you know could get you in trouble. A fourth strategy is saying no and giving an excuse when someone wants you to do something bad that you know you shouldn’t do because your parents would ground you. The last strategy is changing the subject. When someone is talking about doing something bad, you could say something other then that to get them off the topic. This is one of the topics we learned in D.A.R.E.
A second topic I learned was the D.A.R.E. decision making model. The D in D.A.R.E. stands for define. This is when you describe the challenge, opportunity, or problem. The A in D.A.R.E. stands for assess. You ask yourself, “What are my choices?” The R in D.A.R.E. stands for respond. You make your choice by using the facts and information you gathered. The E in D.A.R.E. stands for evaluate. You review your decision and you ask yourself, “Did I make a good choice?” The D.A.R.E. decision making model was another topic we learned in D.A.R.E.
I learned about signs of stress. One of the ways you can tell if someone is stressed is by the way their face gets hot, palms get sweaty, and they seem as if they want to scream. Another way is they might move a lot, their expression changes, or they start to cry. Lastly they might put their head down, talk to someone about it, or take deep breaths. Signs of stress was another topic we learned in D.A.R.E.
I know that I surely had fun learning these topics and more. I wish that this wasn’t the end of D.A.R.E. because it has been Awesome! Also, I have learned a lot about how to be safe even if there are people wanting me to do bad things. To sum up this essay, I have learned a lot of different strategies to help me through difficult situations and life choices.
Dare Essay
By: Ryan
For the first half of this school year we took a class called D.A.R.E. D.A.R.E. stands for Define, Assess, Respond, and Evaluate. I will be telling you how I can use D.A.R.E. As well as some of the things we used in D.A.R.E. In conclusion this is what D.A.R.E. stands for and what it is.
I can use D.A.R.E. in many ways, like making the right choice, taking the right medication, and communicating effectively. I would use these because they would all help me in life. Taking the right medication keeps me healthy. Communicating effectively helps me and other people understand each other better. This helps me and the person I am talking to. In conclusion this is how D.A.R.E. helps me and other people.
In this part of my essay I will talk about some of the words we learned in D.A.R.E. I will mostly be talking about words we learned, what they mean how they affect my life. The first word I will be talking about is “stress.” I chose stress because I think a lot of people experience stress and I want to tell them how to help get rid of stress. The definition of stress is “Any strain, pressure, or excitement felt about a situation or an event.” Stress can not be healthy for your body if you get too stressed and that is why I want to tell you how to relieve stress. I have a couple of methods to help relieve stress. The first method is to read a book. Your opinion may be different, but reading helps cool me down. Another method that usually works is sitting down and watching YouTube or the television. However, you do not want to watch anything scary cause it can get your nerves up, so watch something calm. My final technique is to just take a nap or lay down. In conclusion, I decided to write about stress because it happens to me a lot and to my peers. Also, you can get stressed doing a lot of things; for example right now I am stressed about writing this because it is due tomorrow. The second word I would like to talk about is “tattling.” I chose this word because it happens a lot in my house! I do not know about you, but tattling is all that seems to happen. Tattling is not something you should do even though you may get tattled on. The definition for tattling is “When you want to get someone in trouble for harmless behavior.” A reason you should not tattle is because you will usually get in trouble, and it is just not a good thing to do that is worth it. In conclusion this is why you should not tattle. I chose these words because they apply to my life.
I could go on and on with all the things we learned in D.A.R.E. about keeping us safe, but since we don’t have forever I will only say a little more. These two last things I am going to talk about are the most important of the words we learned through D.A.R.E. The first word is “peer pressure.” I think that this happens at most ages, but mostly for teens. Even though my classmates and I are not teens, I still think this is a valuable thing almost every child should know. The definition for peer pressure is “When people about your age try to get you to do something.” I myself have experienced peer pressure and it was a good thing that happened to me and not a bad thing. The time I experienced peer pressure is when my sister tried to get me to ride a slide at a water park. When I finally rode the slide I ended up having a blast. Peer pressure can be a bad thing and a good thing so sometimes it is okay when other times it is not. I think it is time now to move on to the next work which is “responsible”. It is actually a really good thing to be responsible and that is why you want to try and be responsible. If your a very responsible person they most people will trust and it is a good thing that people trust you. I chose this word to show others what being responsible can make other people feel about you. Some examples are babysitting, and staying at home by yourself. If you are not responsible then you will most likely no be able to do those kind of things. I think of myself as a responsible person, and that is a good thing to think. I chose these words because they are important and apply to my life.
I think D.A.R.E. is a class everyone should take. It teaches you how to stay safe and how to stay healthy, and you have fun doing D.A.R.E. This year I have learned a lot and have had a lot of fun during D.A.R.E. so I will miss it next year. In conclusion this essay is about what we learned in D.A.R.E. and why everyone should take the class.
Dare Essay
By: Stella Laukhuf
Dare is a very important part of the year. We learn important life lessons and what to do in difficult life situations. So this is why Dare is very necessary to all the students.
We learned about bullying in dare. Bullying was one of the lessons that stood out to me because too many kids get bullied in our grade, our school and throughout the country. I know that we can’t control how the world acts so why not start with how you act. Bullying can cause a lot of stress, depression, and anger. So treat others the way you would want to be treated. Also, next time you see someone getting bullied stand up for them and let them know that they are not alone. Also, try talking to the bully and see what’s going on with him or her and show empathy. To sum this paragraph up, bullying is a very important lesson in 5th grade Dare Program.
Another important Dare lesson is communication. We all need to communicate because if do not communicate we will not know what’s going on. If somebody is upset and we do not communicate with them, you could think they are mad at you then a fight will start. Nobody wants to fight, so we just need to talk to each other and see what’s going on.
The next lesson is risk. When we take risked we are stepping out of our comfort zone. It’s good to take risk because if you were to take a risk there could be consequences. There are 2 types of consequences, a good consistency and a bad consequence. I also like this lesson, because they go together as 5th graders we need to know how to take a risk to get good consequences and not bad consequences.
The last lesson I would like to talk about is peer pressure. Peer pressure is when someone tries to persuade you into doing something for them. Nobody should do this, because if they don’t have the courage to do that action, then you should not do it either. It could also get you in trouble for something somebody else told you to do.
As you can seem all the lessons in Dare I talked about go together. All of these lessons try to teach you if you take a risk on telling on a bully, there could be a good consequence. The bully might leave you alone but if they do not leave you alone, show them empathy because you do not know what’s going on in their life. In conclusion, this is why the Dare Program is so important to me.
