What is the Red Ribbon Week Toolkit?
This free toolkit is meant to be a helpful guide for anyone engaged in youth drug prevention activities, including Red Ribbon Week planning. In many schools, parents who are members of the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) plan Red Ribbon Week, which is typically held the last week of October. Many people are not familiar with modern prevention science and promote activities that are not helpful in enabling youth to live drug free. This toolkit was designed by prevention specialists in collaboration with various Utah organizations with the hope that communities will use the prevention knowledge from this kit to protect youth from drug use and addiction using evidence-based and evidence-informed strategies.
Why use this kit?
- Prevent Drug Use: Activities in the toolkit steer kids away from using drugs through evidence-based prevention activities.
- Promote Healthy Behaviors: Activities in this toolkit promote mental health and increase family bonding, community connection, healthy relationships, personal development and resiliency, all while having fun!
- Free and Flexible: This toolkit, crafted by a multi-disciplinary team, is completely free to use and adapt throughout the year.
History of Red Ribbon Week
In 1985, DEA Agent Enrique Camarena was killed in drug related crime. In response, angered parents and youth in communities across the country began wearing Red Ribbons to raise awareness of the destruction caused by drugs. Red Ribbon Week is an opportunity for schools to host fun, prosocial activities and educate youth on staying substance-free.
Prevention Science
In many schools, Parent Teacher Associations (PTA) plan Red Ribbon Week activities. Most parents are not prevention professionals who might need some ideas. This toolkit was designed by prevention specialists in collaboration with Utah PTA for EVERY school and EVERY child here in Utah.
Our hope is that every school/PTA will use this resource to protect students from drug use and addiction. Prevention science has come a long way in reducing youth substance use. We’ve learned the hard way about what works and what doesn’t.
What doesn’t work?
Youth drug prevention has moved far beyond “Just Say No” and “This is Your Brain on Drugs” campaigns. Some activities may seem like a good idea on the surface but have the potential of causing harm. Fear based activities, one-time events, or assemblies may seem like good ideas to help educate young people on the harms of drug use and dangers of addiction. However, prevention science shows us that oftentimes these types of activities can be ineffective. For more information about scare tactics, visit PreventionActionAlliance.org
What works?
Effective prevention strategies for youth should focus on activities that build social competence, self-regulation, and academic skills. Efforts should focus on developing self-control, emotional awareness, communication, relationships, social problem-solving and academic support among students.
Effective youth drug prevention takes place in every domain: The community, schools, within families, and among individual and peers. Prevention that is targeted through these four domains works to connect youth to prosocial activities and build age appropriate skills that can be relied on when faced with negative pressures and risks around drugs and alcohol.
Instructions for Implementation
This toolkit is meant to be a helpful guide when planning Red Ribbon Week activities, and help prevent overwhelm! Included in this kit are ways that adults can engage students in effective drug prevention messaging and activities that are based on prevention science and research. The categories and themes are meant to be guides in assisting adults to develop activities during Red Ribbon Week that will target their individual communities, schools, and students as needed. Activities are separated out by ages (elementary, secondary, or both) and include instructions, templates, and resources needed for implementation. Feel free to adjust activities and themes as needed.