A longtime drug and alcohol awareness program in the Warren County R-III School District is being replaced by what Resource Officer Dea Bradbury believes is a more innovative solution.D.A.R.E., which stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Awareness, has been phased out of the classroom.Instead, the district is using a nonprofit organization called the National Campaign Against Drug Abuse, based out of St. Louis. The service is free of cost to the school.D.A.R.E. has been in Warrenton classrooms since 1996.Bradbury, who has been teaching D.A.R.E. since 2006, said it was difficult to devote the time necessary among all of her duties as the only certified instructor in the district.“The inception of NCADA came over a lengthy process,” explained Bradbury. “There was some frustration over what D.A.R.E. stood for, and all of a sudden tobacco and alcohol were considered drugs as well.”In the past, D.A.R.E. was only administered to the sixth-grade classes and even with that Bradbury says there were restrictions. Policy prevented her from discussing some of the more pivotal issues such as marijuana use until the later weeks of the sessions. Oftentimes those topics were never reached because the number of classes called for frequent rotation.“In the early stages of the program I would talk to them about bullying, report, anger and stress management,” said Bradbury. “But with the time restraints, some of the more important areas never got reached.”Aside from general awareness and education about the dangers of drug and alcohol use, NCADA teaches students coping skills.“It also prepares the kids to learn how to deal with problem-solving processes for some of their peers in conflict and better understand what an emergency is,” added Bradbury. “It’s got so many different levels, which is amazing.”While the NCADA does not require a police officer to conduct the course, those presenting the information are specially certified, with many of them being former educators.In addition to having more manpower, NCADA also has curriculum appropriate for every grade level from kindergarten through 12th grade. Presently, the program is being delivered to students in the sixth through eighth grades at Warren County R-III every Thursday.“Our hope is to someday have this program in all grades throughout the district,” said Bradbury. “We’re hoping this would make a lot bigger impact, versus just having it in sixth grade.”Bradbury says the NCADA has fewer restrictions on what it can address and quickly dives into the more relevant risk and concerns facing students in the community.“With NCADA we can talk about pretty much anything that comes into play and focus on the issues that matter most,” said Bradbury. “Our community has a significant issues with marijuana and heroin use, and with this new program we are able to address that right away. We don’t need to lose another kid to this, and I believe education is a huge part of it.”Part of her concern before was that at times she had to deal with crisis in one building on campus and would have to postpone or modify the D.A.R.E. lessons to handle the more urgent need. While her responsibilities won’t be demanding, she and Resource Office Kevin Swofford are still encouraged to participate and answer questions from a law enforcement standpoint.“They are welcoming us with open arms,” said Bradbury. “We still want to maintain that one-on-one connection with the kids and build rapport.”NCADA