Middle school is an awkward time in any preteen’s life. Juggling homework, after-school sports, unpredictable (and oftentimes straight up toxic) friendships, and peer pressure can be very stressful at such a young age. And, to top it off, you’re going through puberty the entire time! It was certainly awkward for me. I had braces, wore glasses, and had tragically unflattering side-bangs. I attended a Catholic school, and my graduating class had a grand total of 28 people. That meant that everyone knew everything about everyone. As an added bonus, my mom was extremely involved in school activities which I found to be mortifying at the time. Especially embarrassing, was that she was the leader of Red Ribbon Week. Red Ribbon Week is an alcohol, tobacco, and other drug and violence prevention awareness campaign observed annually in October in the United States. According to the United States DEA, Red Ribbon Week is the nation’s largest and longest-running drug awareness and prevention program.
At the beginning of every school year, my mom and her fellow volunteers would spend weeks in preparation of Red Ribbon Week. They would come up with fresh themes and ideas to try to engage the students and there would be a variety of events that we were required to participate in. Why was it so embarrassing to me that my mom was involved you may ask? Well, during the last few years of school some my classmates had begun to experiment with marijuana. It was only a few kids in my grade, but in typical middle school fashion, once someone said it was “cool” it automatically became status-quo, even though I highly doubt the rest of them had even seen marijuana let alone indulged in it. So come October, I would be branded as being that boring “narc” whose mom was too strait-laced.
One of the popular messages that would be spread during Red Ribbon Week was the marijuana was a gateway drug, that is a habit-forming drug that, while not itself addictive, may lead to the use of other addictive drugs. This message is often targeted towards young people for a variety of reasons. The model of windows of vulnerability indicates that the influence of parents on health beliefs and behaviors will be important throughout life, but where during certain critical periods, young people will be vulnerable to the effects of other important social influences that may expose them to different health beliefs and behaviors (Gruman et al., 2016). This tells us that young-adults, particularly of middle-school age, are susceptible to a variety of influences around them and can greatly shape young people’s health behavior. The decisions they make at that age could, potentially, have a great impact on their life.
It has been over a decade since I’ve participated in Red-Ribbon Week, yet I remember it fondly now. It seems ludicrous to me that I was ever embarrassed about my mom’s participation. I realize now that she was just trying her absolute best to guide me and make sure that I was well-informed. However, I’ve also come to believe that marijuana isn’t as dangerous as it was made out to be. Marijuana is by far the most widely-used illicit drug. Though marijuana is a powerful intoxicant with subjective psychedelic-like effects that are more complicated than those of alcohol or cocaine, research has yet to show that marijuana consumption has harmful consequences (DeSimone, 1998). Throughout high school and college, I’ve met plenty of people who are recreational marijuana users and remain extremely high-functioning individuals. It has also been legalized in several states for medicinal purposes and even recreational use. I believe that life is all about having a healthy balance and if that means using marijuana to cope or destress, more power to you!
References:
DeSimone, J. (1998). Is Marijuana a Gateway Drug? Eastern Economic Journal, 24(2), 149-164. Retrieved February 18, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40325834
Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (Eds.). (2016). Applied social psychology : Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. ProQuest Ebook Central https://ebookcentral.proquest.com
I remember Red Ribbon Week fondly, as well. In my school, I have to admit, they did a very poor job of explaining the importance of Red Ribbon Week. I truly had no idea growing up that it was about not using drugs or tobacco. All I was focused on was participating in the dress up days and fraying the ribbons (please tell me other schools frayed the ends of their ribbons). We also had T.A.T.U. and D.A.R.E. to help teach the negative effects of tobacco use, drugs, and underaged drinking.
These programs taught us that all of these choices were bad and that if you tried any of these things, terrible things would happen to you. My school also taught abstinence instead of sexual health. Which explains why the senior class ended up with an outbreak of chlamydia. I feel like when schools teach this very strict way, it pushes the students in the opposite directions. We now know that teaching abstinence only approach does not actually help prepare students for different situations that arise.
The Drug Policy Alliance or DPA is attempting to change the way these ideas are taught. They have a focus on how to keep students safe who do experiment with drugs, while creating safe pathways for students to avoid the pressures of drugs all together. They are creating a more interactive and honest course. As you said, the way the paint marijuana is not completely accurate. What are your thoughts of steering away from these abstinense only approaches? Thank you for the nostalgia!
References
Drug Policy Alliance. (2020). Real Drug Education. Retrieved from Drug Policy: https://drugpolicy.org/issues/real-drug-education
I had nearly completely forgotten about Red Ribbon Week. Just the mention of the name of that campaign sent me on a mental trip into 90’s nostalgia. I know that there has been a lot of research done on marijuana since I participated in Red Ribbon Week, so I do not think that some of their views about it being a “gateway drug” hold up anymore, but there are lessons to be learned about adolescents using marijuana. The brain of an adolescent is not fully formed and research on the effects of marijuana in adolescents has not yet gained enough scientific support because of brand new legalization and decriminalization policies.
Parental or caregiver guidance through difficult parts of adolescence is important to try to keep them safe through this turbulent time of life. Acknowledging Red Ribbon Week and the D.A.R.E program are not enough to truly keep youth on the path of being drug-free. Parenting styles reflect parent-child relationships, and these relationships help shape adolescents into emerging adults before they reach adulthood. There are so many aspects of life that are learned through modeling what our parents or caregivers say and do. Because children are coached by both hearing what their parents are telling them to do and watching what their parents do, if the parent is exhibiting these behaviors in front of their children, then there is a greater chance of a child picking up that habit, good or bad (Gruman, 2016). For example, if a parent, who is drug free, is telling their child to remain drug free, then that child is more likely to stay drug free like their parent. If a parent, who is not drug free, is telling their child to remain drug free, then the child may be less receptive to their parent’s recommendation because they are watching their own parents contradict themselves. Trust is very important to an adolescent, and contradictory behaviors are not going to sit well with them. Consistency is key for these parent-child relationships to flourish so that they can be confident and keep those same positive behaviors with them in their future, no matter where they go.
References
Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (Eds.). (2016). Applied social psychology : Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. ProQuest Ebook Central https://ebookcentral.proquest.com