Today is the start of drug week, or drug prevention week (we hope). But I’m not sure it’s an issue anymore. It’s like burning the books in Fahrenheit 451–nobody reads them anyway, so it’s just a form of entertainment for the masses. Don’t start thinking that I’m saying drug week is merely entertainment, but, COME ON, kids have been hearing about this since they were in first and second grade. Most people have been conditioned to stay away from them, at least until college.
We spend a lot of time on drug week, though. Our service club kids present in classes, they have the red ribbons, students sign a paper saying they’ll be drug free, everyone’s supposed to wear red on Thursday–it’s time and effort to reinforce that conditioning. Students today, sadly, don’t get the amazing student films made back in the 70’s to combat drug abuse. You know the ones–straight-A kid gets pressured into smoking weed, he takes one hit and a whole psychedelic trip ensues (complete with music and a moving tye-dye background). Greek tragedy meets afterschool special.
Kids are smarter now. They get that drugs are bad for you, but they also see that their friends (and maybe their parents) don’t always die when they have a glass of wine, or a beer, or some drug. The bottom line is that they’re either going to do drugs, or they won’t. Some students told me today that they will never do them, that drugs are against what they stand for. Bummer, or cool, depending on where you stand. But consider how long drugs have been around, in some form or another–they will continue to be out there, whether prescribed or homegrown or black market.
I appreciate the efforts; I really do. At my kid’s school today, students wore pajamas to “put drugs to sleep.” Nice. However, we have homeless students, and kids who sleep three to a room, and some who don’t eat breakfast or lunch, not to mention food insecurity. Some don’t have reliable Internet, which leads to poor literacy skills. Others take prescription meds, sometimes just to make them docile.
I so want a ribbon of any color to solve all the problems in the world, but it starts with people being realistic about the problem itself.
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https://youtu.be/bGpE2oXf0aE