AWARENESS, POSITIVE ALTERNATIVES KEEP YOUTH ACTIVE

Substance abuse can lead to a host of problems in a young person's
life, from addiction to trouble with the law and even early pregnancy.

Education and providing youth with alternatives to drugs is key to
the community's fight against drug use.

With this in mind, dozens of teens, children and adults were on hand
at Ypao Beach Park Saturday for the National Red Ribbon Week Drug
Free Carnival.

Two decades ago drug traffickers in Mexico City murdered Kiki
Camarena, a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent, in 1985. The
murder sparked what is now the oldest and largest drug prevention
program in the nation -- the Red Ribbon Campaign, according to the
U.S. DEA Web site.

The campaign began the tradition of wearing a Red Ribbon as a symbol
of intolerance toward the use of drugs.

Each year the last week of October has come to be recognized as
National Red Ribbon Week and on Guam several activities have been
planned to show the community's commitment to a drug-free Guam.

Saturday's carnival -- which featured musical performances and games
- -- wrapped up the week's worth of events.

Juanita Blaz, program director for Island Girl Power, said the
participation in this year's carnival by teens and civic
organizations was encouraging.

Island Girl Power, Sanctuary Inc., SKIP, Youth for Youth and several
middle and high school organizations set up booths offering snacks,
information about their respective programs and photos of recent activities.

The Pacific Daily News' Project RAP -- "Real Alternatives to Teen
Pregnancy" -- was among the event's sponsors. The nine-month project
wraps up this month and another outreach event is in the works.
Project RAP's focus is to decrease the number of teen pregnancies on island.

Issues are related

While the Red Ribbon Week carnival was focused on substance abuse
prevention, Blaz said it's all related.

"Drug use, teen pregnancy, domestic violence among youth -- it all
ties together," she said.

"These are things kids can get involved in when they have problems
with self-esteem. That's why we and these other groups here try to
provide kids with other activities and outlets. You get a child
active in something, part of something, they start to build
self-esteem and they eventually develop a sense of community pride
and these are all things that have been shown to decrease activity in
illegal drug use and sex at an early age."

Cathrina Palomo, a community program aide from Benavente Middle
School, said not only having children and teens take part in
community activities is important, but also getting parents involved is vital.

She said that by making parents aware of the activities their
children are in they can provide support by reinforcing the message
that what the kids are doing is good.

Keep kids active

Dededo resident Maria Ramos, 28, attended the Saturday event with
family. The mother of an infant, Ramos said she is learning what she
can now to be prepared for when her son is older and could be exposed
to the temptations of drugs and sexual activity.

"We're going to make sure he's active in sports and in the
community," she said.

"I think it's very important to get the youth involved in something
because it expands their horizons," she said. "So often a lot of what
they see on Guam is all about relationships -- getting together with
someone early, having a child early -- and they think that's what
it's all about.

"A lot of our children are very talented, they just need an outlet to
develop and display those talents," Ramos said. "That's why events
like this are good because it shows these kids that there is
something else out there."