Click on the following links. Please note these will open in a new window.

Exercise 1

Law enforcement officials spend large amounts of time working with children. The police are, in many cases, involved in juvenile matters from the time of arrest until the time of adjudication. Many law enforcement officials are also actively involved in deterrent programs with juveniles, schools, and communities. One such program is the Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.) program that focuses on educating children about the hazards of gangs and providing alternatives to gangs for children in at-risk neighborhoods. To find out more about the G.R.E.A.T. program, visit http://www.great-online.org/.

1. Click on Organization (on the left hand side of the website). Read the history of the G.R.E.A.T. program. What has happened within the last decade that brought about the proactive gang resistance education program?
    
2. Read about the curriculum provided. Why is or why isn’t it important for the police to be actively involved in this program? What are the police officers involved in the program gaining from their participation? What are the children involved in the program gaining from their participation? In your opinion, why should or shouldn’t the juvenile court offer this program instead of law enforcement officials? What do you believe is the most important lesson provided to youth at risk of becoming gang members?
    
3. Next, click on the longitudinal evaluation link while reading about the history of G.R.E.A.T. Using your knowledge of statistics and the collection of statistics, how difficult was it for law enforcement personnel to measure the effectiveness of the G.R.E.A.T. program? How was the national evaluation conducted? What specific significant results emerged from this evaluation program?
    

Exercise 2

Law enforcement officials spend large amounts of time working with children. The police are, in many cases, involved in juvenile matters from the time of arrest until the time of adjudication. Many law enforcement officials are also actively involved in deterrent programs with juveniles, schools, and communities. One such program is the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program which focuses on educating children about the hazards of drugs. To find out more about the D.A.R.E. program, visit the D.A.R.E. website at http://www.dare.com/home/default.asp.

1. Click on “about D.A.R.E.” How was this program created and what is its mission?
    
2. From the home page, click on “about D.A.R.E.” and then click on “It’s a totally new D.A.R.E.” How and why was this program reorganized since 2003?
    
3. Go back to the home page and click on “research and resources.” Scroll down to the various articles regarding the effectiveness of D.A.R.E., read them, and then explain what you have learned. Is D.A.R.E. effective?