Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Sheriff Otwell Sets Up DARE Program in Nevada County

Nevada County Sheriff Steve Otwell has announced that for the first time ever in Nevada County, schools will be implementing the DARE Program.

The DARE program will allow the Nevada County Sheriff's Department to take an aggressive approach in educating children in the three Nevada County school districts on drug awareness and prevention.

This program is also aimed at impressionable aged children who may have already developed a negative attitude toward law enforcement or authority figures.

The DARE officer's regular presence in the classroom will not only teach and implement life skills to enable the children to live a drug- free life, but it will also establish a positive relationship between law enforcement, students, teachers and parents.

The DARE officer will work in a cooperative effort with school personnel, counselors and teachers to increase their knowledge about the different kinds of drugs and determine the extent of drug use in each school district. The officer will work with law enforcement officers to develop drug education programs and policies regarding drug use, in order to comply with drug-free schools.

The DARE officer will be teaching fifth and sixth grade students in each school district and will also teach an introduction to DARE to fourth grade students.

The program addresses the age group children that are eager to learn.

"Investing in our children through comprehensive and preventive education provides them with needed skills to resist both peer pressure and socio-economic pres- sure which will enable them to make better choices for themselves and avoid drug abuse in their junior high and high school years," Sheriff Otwell said in a news release.

The DARE program is a federal program funded under the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Com-munities Act of 1994 through the Arkansas Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention.

Sheriff Steve Otwell said in the release that he would like to thank Rep. Sandra Rodgers, Dennis Washington, Prosecuting Attorney Brent Haltom, as well as the Emmet, Prescott and Nevada School Dis-tricts for their help in achieving funding for the DARE program.