RED RIBBON WEEK BEGINS IN COLLIER COUNTY SCHOOLS

Week Is Dedicated To Educating Students About Living Drug Free Lives

Last year, a Collier County child went to NCH Downtown Naples
Hospital every 36 hours for a drug overdose.

It is a scary statistic, but what is scarier is that two years ago,
a child 18 or younger went to the same hospital every third day,
according to Circuit Court Judge Lauren Brodie.

"The time a child is going to the hospital has been cut in half in
one year," she said. "The average age a child tries drugs in Collier
County is 12."

This week, Collier County will participate in Red Ribbon Week. The
goal of the event is to work toward a drug free community.

And that is exactly the goal of Drug Free Collier, according to Brodie.

The Red Ribbon Campaign was started when drug traffickers in Mexico
City murdered Drug Enforcement Agency agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena
in 1985, according to the National Family Partnership, which
sponsors the event. It began the tradition of displaying Red
Ribbons as a symbol of intolerance toward the use of drugs and to
present a unified and visible commitment toward a drug-free America.

The National Family Partnership estimates more than 80 million
Americans will participate in Red Ribbon events. The Collier County
School District has several events planned at different schools
during the week, including asking students to wear red ribbons,
holding contests with a drug free theme and hanging red ribbons.

Craig Greusel, a music specialist at Lely Elementary School and a
prevention specialist with the district, said Lely Elementary School
will host its eighth annual Red Walk from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Friday on the school's campus, 8125 Lely Cultural Parkway.
The students will walk along a one mile path and have the chance to
stop at stations that emphasize reading, writing, math, music and
the visual arts.

"We do the serious stuff during the week, but we also try to do a
fun activity that stresses the positives of prevention," he said.
"Prevention is the key to this. The more we understand before we try
(drugs), we are not going to try. Getting the positive message out
before that fact is the key."

Nina Ribinski, the district's safe and healthy schools coordinator,
said that although the risks have changed, the message of Red Ribbon
Week stays the same.

"We want students to be healthy and drug free," she said. "You have
to change your focus to what is happening in the real world.
Steroids are becoming a concern with our young athletes. We had an
inhalant death of a Naples High School student last year. The abuse
of prescription drugs is replacing marijuana and other drugs."

Ribinski said parents can also help students learn the importance of
being drug free.

"Talk to your kids. Let them know that alcohol and drugs will cause
them problems," she said. "Let them know that the best way to a
successful life is staying drug free."

For a complete list of Red Ribbon Week activities in Collier County
schools, visit www.collier.k12.fl.us and look under the CCPS News link.