Red Ribbon week, which ran Oct. 23-31, is the biggest drug prevention campaign in America. Millions of people, including many schools, take part in it. Red Ribbon week is most commonly celebrated in middle and elementary schools.

According to the Drug Enforcement Association, Red Ribbon week was created after the death of Enrique “kiki” Camarena, who was a DEA Special Agent. After his death, people wanted to honor him for what he did and began celebrating his achievements in his hometown in California. In 1988, the National Family Partnership started the Red Ribbon campaign.

A high school friend of Camarena started the wearing of the red ribbon to show their oppositions to drugs, which is why red ribbons are still used today.

Jonathan Keys, school resource officer at DHS, thinks that Red Ribbon week is very important.

“I think it’s important to bring awareness to the problem of drugs and alcohol and bring it to peoples minds that [there are] consequences,” Keys said.

Some schools participate in activities to help spread awareness. Some of these activities include a red balloon release and dances performed by teachers in front of the school. Some schools have a march, some have poster contests where kids decorate posters and show them off and some have their kids take a Red Ribbon pledge.

DHS Student Council made posters and put them up around the school to help bring awareness to the student body. Keys thinks that these posters are a good influence on people who make poor decisions.

“I think the posters are a good idea because people don’t just hear about the negatives, they hear that there are people that might be like-minded and want to avoid it,” Keys said. “They [the posters] make people who might be engaged in that kind of behavior realize that there’s people that aren’t.”