According to therecoveryvillage.org, the website for a substance abuse and eating disorder treatment facility based in Umatilla, Florida, teens in the U.S. abuse alcohol more than any other illicit drug. Not surprisingly, it causes the most harm – teen alcohol abuse is responsible each year for nearly 200,000 ER visits and 4,300 deaths among children under the age of 21. In addition, according to the site, around 13% of people who start smoking marijuana as teenagers become dependent on it, and regular marijuana use can cause a drop in IQ of up to 8 points.

With so many students in America using and abusing drugs, alcohol, and new nicotine distributors like e-cigarettes and juuls, The Benjamin School designated the last week of October as Red Ribbon Week.

This year, as in years past, the School put up red ribbons around campus. The Middle School also distributed to students red wrist bands that read “Happy 2B Drug Free,” and provided students with red-frosted cupcakes during lunch on Friday, October 27. Benjamin’s Red Ribbon Week is a version of the National Red Ribbon Campaign, the oldest and largest drug prevention program in the nation according to nfp.org, the website for National Family Partnership which sponsors the Red Ribbon program.

In response to the murder of DEA Agent Enrique Camarena in 1985, angered parents and youth in communities across the United States began wearing red ribbons to raise awareness of the death and destruction caused by drugs. The campaign continues today and is spearheaded on the Lower/Middle School Campus by Student Services Counselor Ms. Danielle Benvenuto.

“It is important to take time to discuss the dangers of tobacco, drugs, and alcohol [that could potentially be] used by students,” said Benvenuto. To raise awareness among the student body, Benvenuto facilitates “discussions within advisories and at home, having guest speakers talk, and the ADL (Anti-Defamation League) comes and has a meeting with the students.”

Although there was no guest speaker this year as there has been in the past, Benvenuto encouraged families to discuss illegal drug use together at dinner on the evening of Wednesday October 26, in the middle of Red Ribbon Week. Advisories were also encouraged to talk about illegal drug use and take an online quiz about the dangers of drugs, tobacco, and alcohol. To keep the awareness going throughout the year, Benvenuto plans to continue discussing these issues with her seventh and eighth-grade skills classes.

The School’s administration sponsors Red Ribbon Week to raise awareness about the dangers of drugs and to educate the students, many of whom understand the dire consequences of abusing

drugs.

“I really don’t like the idea of teens using drugs,” said eighth grader Owen Gelberd. “It really is just stupid. You can ruin your life by even trying drugs.”  

“I really think that drugs are not the best way to express [yourself], and they really don’t look cool,” said fellow eighth grader Jackson Worcester.

The students, though, aren’t just hearing words of caution from the administration.

“When drugs are used for the purpose of healing people, they are used for the purpose of which they were developed,” said Middle School Head Football Coach and physical education instructor Mr. Greg Keller. “However, when used in a recreational form, they are extremely dangerous.”