MAKING POSITIVE CHOICES

Area Schools Use Red Ribbon Week As A Way To Focus On Preventing Drug,
Alcohol Use

Whether they were using red balloons or fake blood, last week many
schools asked students to focus on the consequences of drinking and
using drugs.

At Willard South Elementary, the whole school gathered on the
playground to declare, "This is me, drug-free!" and released about 400
red balloons.

First-grader Michaela Gugel was giddy with excitement as she watched
the balloons soar into the sky.

"Drugs are dangerous for little kids," she said. "If we take them, it
will make us really, really, really sick."

Red Ribbon Week, is a tradition that started in 1985 at Calexico High
School in California. In was originally meant to honor Kiki Camarena,
a graduate of the school who was murdered by a drug gang while working
as an undercover agent for the Drug Enforcement Agency.

Willard students don't learn about Camarena, said counselor David
Suits. The focus is on age-appropriate lessons that help students
think through consequences of choices they make. At Willard,
activities included skits about making healthy choices and a day to
wear sports outfits to "team up against drugs."

"At this age they know teenagers who smoke, or they may have seen
their parents drunk," said school counselor David Suits. "We talk
about if your parents smoke and drink, that may be OK for them, but
it's not for you, a child. We show them what happens to lungs when
they fill up with smoke."

Michaela said she'd remember what she'd learned that week "for the
whole rest of my life."

But if she happens to forget, she's likely to hear the message every
year until she graduates. Anti-drug education in all public schools is
federally financed with Title IV funds. In the mid-1990s, the law was
amended to forbid funds from being used for promotional giveaway
items, so events like Willard South's still rely on parent-teacher
organizations to provide items such as balloons to make events
memorable. Funds often provide general support for school counseling
programs.

At Reed Middle School, students marked the week with an event called
"Wake up and smell the coffee," a breakfast that brought in about 130
students and parents.

"We have a handout that we give them, and it tells them our theme:
'Now that you know, what will you do?'" explained coordinator Harold
Isaak. The handout included facts about teen drinking, smoking and
marijuana.

Many times, parents of middle school children aren't sure how to
approach their kids as their kids seek more and more
independence.

Isaak hopes the event opens dialogue so students are able to talk when
faced with choices.

Glendale High School organizers sent an anti-drinking message in a
more somber way. They called in the Grim Reaper.

On Thursday morning, he stood by silently on the lawn outside of the
school with the sophomore class as they watched what happened at a
mock car accident involving five teenagers. They saw real emergency
medical workers arrange a drape over the "bloody body" of Caitlin
Brice, who "died" from being thrown through the windshield of the car.
If they were close enough, students could smell alcohol, see fake
blood, and hear the moaning of student actors. They watched an officer
handcuff and arrest driver Jule Clinkenbeard.

Sixteen-year-old sophomore Ashley Gillenwaters said she had never seen
a crash site up close, and she thought the drama would make students
think.

"We care about a lot of the people here," she said. "If some of us
died it would be a lot different."

But some students laughed, or taunted the actors, saying, "I can still
see you breathing!"

Lori Minor, a nurse from St. John's who coordinates the crash dramas
at area schools, said it isn't unusual for high school students to
laugh.

"They don't know how to grieve. That's their reaction to death and
dying at this point. And they know this isn't real."

Throughout the day, the Grim Reaper continued coming to class,
selecting students who would then have their obituaries read to them.
Some students went to the hospital to observe trauma rooms.

Would it make a difference?

"It's worth it if it stops just one," said Glendale counselor Coyeatta
Ewing.