It is Red Ribbon week here. It was Crazy Hat Day today at the schools, tomorrow will be Camo Day. Each day is themed. The goal is to prevent drug use.
The dance line participated at a drug-free rally this morning at the high school. The drama club put on a skit, the cheer leaders led a drug free cheer. Drugs are bad, m'kay? That was the message.
I can't help but wonder if the organizers of said events truly believe that they are preventing drug use among teens. Maybe I'm just cynical.
The drug use in our small town is astounding. Meth has hit like a bomb. The thing is, it's adults too. The parents of the teens the rally is aimed at are users, makers, suppliers of drugs. Is a silly cheer or skit going to change perception? Is a kick ass dance going to cause someone to drop the crack pipe? I don't think so.
What do you offer a generation of kids who are more aware of the incongruence of the universe at 16 than I was last year? How do we tell them that drugs will kill them when they live life half dead already?
Lullah is for all accounts and purposes the ideal kid. She has a 4.0 GPA, she's number 1 in her class, she's co-captain of the dance line, she's got tons of friends, she's in numerous clubs. She's a girl scout for pete's sake. She's a parents dream. But, she told me the other day that she's depressed and sad a lot of the time. I see it in her friends too. They are mostly honor roll kids, parents married, no major behavioral problems. If the kids who look like they have it together are feeling depressed, how are the kids that are visibly falling apart feeling? How hopeless are they? Somehow I don't think a anti-drug rally is going to alter the course of those kids' lives.
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2 comments:
Red Ribbon Week. Our schools can't coordinate. Elementary-overall day, MS-hat day, HS-crazy hair/pajama day.
All my students know who "makes the meth." One's dad went to prison last year for it. Rumor has it the kid was helping. He was 14. But he's one of my favorites. A lot of our kids won't wear the ribbon, even for the prize drawings. I believe regular visits from the drug dog would do more good than Red Ribbon Week. Funny, they haven't asked my opinion.
I don't think even the drug dog would help. Our parish has 2.
The local paper prints the interary for the week so all of the schools are on the same page. Most students wear the ribbons, but mostly (in HS at least) to be ironic.
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