Creating drug awareness among the young generations is key to helping them to create a bright and positive path for their future. As kids grow into teens, life undoubtedly gets more difficult as more complex decisions are to be made and such decisions come with more mature consequences. It is at this stage that it must be emphasized that taking what many consider the “easy” way out by using drugs to relieve the stress or to fulfill a status quo or because it’s simply something that they believe won’t harm them is not correct and can lead them down a spiral of many issues.

This is exactly the type of awareness that Chapin High School is creating for the 14-18-year-olds that attend here through Red Ribbon Week. In a way that will attract the attention of students, this week consists of a variety of dress-up days that symbolize a unity to stand against drugs. This year, the dress up days consisted of “sock it up to drugs,” where students wore crazy socks, “fight against drugs,” where students dresses up in camo, “be a part of the cure, don’t do drugs,” where students wore pink attire, “friends don’t let friends do drugs together,” where students dressed up in matching clothes, and finally “our school is drug free,” where students wore their Chapin attire. Those who dress up may have just done it to take part in a fun activity, but there is no doubt that awareness is being created through a message that can reach the young. This tradition among schools is something that will help in raising a generation that unites together to say no to drugs!