Red Ribbon Week runs through Tuesday
By:Eric Schwarz
A majority of students in one eighth-grade class have drunk alcohol, several know someone addicted to an illegal drug, and most have parents who depend on caffeine.
Those substances are all drugs, a point brought home to Manville students this week commemorating Red Ribbon Week.
Students in the four public schools are participating in a variety of events to spotlight the dangers of drugs and the importance of self-esteem to counteract peer pressure.
The students of Alexander Batcho Intermediate School – grades 6-8 – attended assemblies by grade level Monday to an educator from Somerset Treatment Services talk about drugs.
Margo Kelker, a substance abuse counselor and alcohol education specialist, told the students that a drug is, in the words of one student, "a substance that affects the way your body feels."
The eighth-grade students were quick to remember the names of illegal drugs – crack, Ecstasy and marijuana were the first three mentioned – but needed Mrs. Kelker’s coaching to come up with others like alcohol, Tylenol, caffeine and insulin.
Drugs can have a cumulative effect on the body, Mrs. Kelker said, which is even greater for those up to about age 22 and seniors over age 65.
The average healthy adult male can have two drinks a day, and the average healthy adult woman one drink a day, without permanent damage.
"Every year at Rutgers at least one kid dies of binge drinking," Mrs. Kelker said. She defined binge drinking as having five or more drinks at one time.
The smokers’ cough that a few students said their parents suffer from is caused by trying to cough up sticky tar in the lungs.
The only way to get rid of the tar is to stop consuming it and for the body to eliminate it gradually, Mrs. Kelker said.
One way to spot addiction, she said, is a growing tolerance to the substance, when more is needed to reach the same high or other effect.
If addiction causes permanent damage, users cannot taper off, she said.
"Use it and you’re addicted," she said. "Stop and it won’t get worse."
Students left the assembly with matter-of-fact informational sheets on the medical and legal consequences of using drugs.
The Red Ribbon Week, started in 1988, honors a U.S. drug agent killed in the line of duty in Mexico.
It includes various activities featuring the color red, including the namesake ribbons. Students at ABIS were given ribbons with the slogan "We are the future. We are drug-free."
ABIS activities today include a banner walk around the school and awards for posters which emphasize an anti-drug theme.
Students in one of Valerie Yurinko’s classes after the presentation generally said the week is not an effective deterrent to using drugs, though one student raised his hand saying he would make good decisions based on the information he learned.
Ms. Yurinko, an eighth-grade math teacher, said a survey of teachers showed that one drug problem which needs to be addressed is dealing with the addiction of family members and friends.