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The red ribbons that recently appeared around every tree and pole in the San Ramon Valley were placed there by members of 28 Girl Scout troops and Cub Scout dens, service clubs, high school leadership classes and Community Against Substance Abuse (CASA). As they hung the red ribbons, they pledged to “Make Healthy Choices” in honor of Red Ribbon Week.
The Valley is joining with thousands of communities throughout the United States from Oct. 23-31 in a unified movement of youths and adults to promote healthy alcohol- and drug-free lives.
“That is what National Red Ribbon Week is all about,” said school district spokesman Terry Koehne.
The goal of this year’s California Red Ribbon Program is to educate families on the importance of parents and caregivers having regular, ongoing communication with children and teens about the risks of alcohol, tobacco, and drugs. The Partnership Attitude Tracking Study (PATS) conducted by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America found that kids who learn a lot about the dangers of drugs from their parents are up to 50 percent less likely to use drugs. However, this applies to only 32 percent of kids at this time. This program is designed to inspire more parents and other family influencers to connect with their kids in ways that persuade them not to use drugs.
The San Ramon Valley Unified School District will be celebrating the week of Oct. 22 and the red ribbons hanging throughout the community empowers everyone to take action in our neighborhoods and schools and develop an attitude of intolerance to substance abuse, said Koehne.
The week was inspired by the life and work of Drug Enforcement Special Agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena. Always yearning to make a difference, he joined the DEA specifically so he could help fight illegal drugs. In 1985, while working undercover in Mexico, he was kidnapped and murdered by drug traffickers. In honor of Camarena, friends and neighbors began to wear Red Badges of satin. The trend took hold throughout the country, and in 1988 Congress officially proclaimed the last week of October as Red Ribbon Week.
For 21 years CASA has sponsored Red Ribbon Week in the San Ramon Valley, providing red ribbons for schools in the valley and distributing and coordinating the decorating of Alamo, Danville and San Ramon.
Through the Red Ribbon Program, the school district has developed prevention programs that were nonexistent before Red Ribbon Week, said Koehne.
“We are especially proud of the drug-free youth that provide positive peer pressure to live healthy, drug-free lifestyles,” he said. “Help celebrate Red Ribbon Week and demonstrate your commitment by wearing a red ribbon in your schools and workplace and by communicating with your children the importance of making safe and healthy choices.”
By Dolores Fox Ciardelli
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Junior Girl Scout Troop 286 members (l-r) Alexandra Stanhope, Maggie Phillips, Marissa Martinez, Mia Fowler, Elise Steingraber, Elise Dumont, Megan Bruntz and Julia Espino prepare for Red Ribbon Week by tying ribbons throughout John Baldwin Elementary. -
Cub Pack 53, Alamo School:(front,l-r) Miguel Inserni, Matthew Fraysse, Cameron Meek, Ben Wendlandt, Nolan Watson, Dylan Nakahara; (back) Joan Remmert, Giuliano DeMartini, Nick Martin, Kyle Pedretti, Jordan Weil, Nathan Aepli, Jack Sweetland, Nick Campigli
