what is a “dare kid” exactly? i’ve never heard of it before but i assume it has something to do with drinking based on your post?
The DARE "against drugs and violence" program was an educational program that was supposed to educate kids in grade 5 north American public school about the dangers of drugs, smoking, and alcohol through the late 80's-early 2000's.
If I remember correctly, it was a big booklet we had to read that described various substances in a vague, hand-wavy way, gave a list of all the terrible things these drugs did to your body, and then a cheesy example of someone trying to give you free drugs where you had to decline using one of the described techniques to theoretically train you against peer pressure.
Then at the end a cop would show up and talk about how drugs were bad, and you'd have to sign a contract promising to never use drugs, and they'd make you pay $25 for a T-Shirt declaring you were a DARE kid.
Sometimes you'd get a visit from a guy in a Darren the DARE Lion fursuit and you could get your picture taken giving him a hug while he handed you a certificate. (I declined the hug.)
The program is now defunct for many reasons, but primarily because it was later found to have increased substance abuse in minors, presumably because kids who had never previously heard of the recreational effects of these things were now aware that, one: drugs feel good, and two: apparently everyone is doing them all the time, and they're probably willing to share.
TL/DR: IMO, The DARE program was a preventative education program for kids that was essentially the substance abuse equivalent of handing out Purity Rings at a sex shop
