NATIONAL RED RIBBON WEEK

By Edward T. O’Leary, Chief of Police

Starting Tuesday, more than 80 million youth and adults nationwide will display or wear red ribbons in honor of Red Ribbon Week (RRW), held annually from October 23-31. RRW provides an opportunity for youth, parents and communities to show their support for and commitment to drug prevention. This year’s RRW theme is “Plant and Promise to Keep Kids Drug Free.”

Since 1986, RRW has raised public awareness and has brought communities together to combat alcohol and drug use among youth. The red ribbon was adopted as a symbol to honor Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, a federal agent who was kidnapped and killed while investigating drug traffickers. Since 1988, the National Family Partnership has led the RRW initiative, building broad participation in communities across America.

Foxborough has been involved in the National Red Ribbon Week Program since 1991. This year, young people in our public schools have placed red ribbons throughout the downtown area showing their commitment to be drug free.

To help assist you in RRW participation, the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign offers the following online resources:

http://www.theantidrug.com – a Web site for parents where a free “21 Parenting Tips brochure may be downloaded in English or Spanish. This Campaign site also includes instructions about how parents can sign up to receive free periodic parenting tips via 3-mail.

http://www.freevibe.com – Aimed at youth, this Campaign Web site provides youth with information that helps empower kids to make the right decisions about drug use.

http://www.mediacampaign.org – This Campaign site provides information and links to Campaign initiatives, advertising, information resources and partnership opportunities for youth- and parent-serving groups and other organizations and coalitions.

A key ingredient to keeping our children drug free is parental participation and communication. All of our children face challenges every day. Sometimes they will make bad choices and have to deal with the consequences. As parents, we can help reduce their risk by talking with our kids about changes.