In 1981, Robert Anastas, a high school coach in Wayland, Massachusetts, lost two of his hockey players in two separate traffic crashes. They both involved alcohol and not wearing safety belts. He helped them to organize and address this deadly occurrence. Mobilized into action by grief over the deaths of their friends and in the spirit of taking control of the problem, the first SADD chapter was started. Over the past 15+ years, SADD has grown from that single chapter to over 7 million students in schools with a SADD chapter, 1,512,000 SADD members who have graduated from high school between 1982-2000, 10,000+ SADD chapters with advisors in the United States, High School, Middle School, College SADD chapters and Elementary School programs, and SADD organizations worldwide.

SADD's mission is to provide students with the best prevention and intervention tools possible to deal with the issues of underage drinking, drunk driving, drug use, and other destructive decisions. SADD is dedicated to A "NO USE" message regarding underage drinking and illegal drugs, the elimination of death due to drinking and driving, and addressing "destructive decisions" related to alcohol and other drugs, violence, tobacco, teen pregnancy, etc. SADD promotes a clear "NO USE" message regarding underage drinking . SADD believes you can not speak of responsible drinking to underage individuals because there is no such thing as responsible illegal drinking.

SADD's philosophy is simple: If the problem lies with teenagers... the solution lies with teenagers. SADD opposes alcohol and other drug use - not the abusers themselves. The SADD message is one of caring not judging. SADD wants to reach all students, families, and communities with their healthy lifestyle message.