Hundreds of rock stars Friday roamed the halls of Joe Cook Fine Arts Magnet School.
To mark the end of Red Ribbon Week, each of Cook’s 669 students and 100 teachers and staff dressed like rock stars and attended a concert by Senatobia DARE Officer Arthur Avant, who performed rap songs with a drug-free message.
“If your friend asks you for tobacco, you say no to drugs,” Quinyshia Madison, 10, said, recalling lessons of the week. “Tobacco gives you cancer, and tobacco can kill others around you.”
Asked about the benefit of living a drug-free life, Madison, the daughter of Valentia Betts and Marco Madison, responded, “For you to learn more, because when you do drugs, your teeth turn yellow, your hair’ll be dirty and your lungs turn black.”
DARE — Drug Abuse Resistance Education — is a program focused on drug-prevention education.
Trey Burton, 10, knows the benefits of living drug-free.
“It’s so you won’t mess up your life,” the son of Rhodesia Burton said.
“Drugs can kill people and take away their lives,” said Mylan Bradford, the son of Sylvia and Mario Bradford. “Some people think other people are cool, because they do drugs. But it can cause harm to your body. It turns your lungs black and hurts your liver.”
To commemorate Red Ribbon Week, Cook students decked the halls of the school in red and hung a commitment banner, signed by students who promised never to try drugs, alcohol or tobacco products.
The students also decorated the halls with artwork and essays with drug-free messages and sponsored a canned-food drive for The Salvation Army.
“At Cook and throughout Columbus city schools, we teach healthy living choices all year long, but the last week of October, we really focus on teaching our children the dangers of drugs, alcohol and tobacco,” Cook school counselor Lisa Elmore said Friday. “Our students not only wear red ribbons, they know what they stand for. We talked honestly this week, especially with the older students, about how drugs can ruin your life and ruin the life of your family and, oftentimes, lead to death.
“We are using the concert and teachers have dressed in silly outfits as a way to show our kids that you can absolutely have fun without having to depend on drugs or alcohol,” she continued. “We can’t just sit back and tell our kids to ‘just say no’ anymore! We must think of new and creative ways to show them that living a drug-free life is the best way to live.
“I think all the glitter, colorful wigs and crazy outfits our teachers are wearing today shows that we are committed to doing that.”
“Red Ribbon Week serves as a vehicle for our schools to educate students on drug prevention and for individuals to pledge to live a drug free life,” said Columbus Municipal School District Superintendent Dr. Del Phillips. “The events held during Red Ribbon Week are just the beginning of the activities and programs provided to Columbus School District students. Many classes including health, life skills, and physical education have instruction that focus students on good decision-making skills and how to avoid high-risk behavior. In addition, students receive instruction through our character-education programs that reinforce positive traits.”
Red Ribbon Week is the nation’s oldest and largest drug-prevention program, reaching millions of Americans during the last week of October.
Schools in the area joined students all over the country recognizing the week with special programs and activities.
Red Ribbon Week pays tribute to Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, an 11-year veteran of the DEA, who was close to unlocking a multibillion-dollar drug pipeline when he was kidnapped, brutally tortured and murdered by Mexican drug traffickers in 1985.
His death opened the eyes of many Americans to the dangers of drugs and the international scope of the drug trade, said Department of Justice officials, who noted the National Family Partnership estimates more than 80 million people participate in Red Ribbon events each year.
Kristin Mamrack is a staff reporter for The Commercial Dispatch.
