Red ribbons are an outward sign of the ongoing war to stop illegal drugs and overdose deaths.
It is Red Ribbon Week across the country. The San Diego County Office of Education has launched a new effort to teach students about the danger of dying from drug abuse.
A series of online videos titled “I Choose My Future” is now available for classroom curriculum, or for families to access at home.
“The drug market and everything that’s out there that is of danger to our children is fluid. It's changing by the minute. Even months ago, it was a different conversation," said Paul Gothold, San Diego County Superintendent of Schools. Gothold joined other administrators and the district attorney at a press conference at Coronado Middle School on Tuesday morning
Along with the video series announcement, education officials said that school-aged children are vulnerable to drug overdoses. Two years ago, a dozen teenagers under 18 died from illegal drug use in San Diego County.
“You hear things everywhere that can really scare you, especially with alcohol and drug abuse. (It's) the peer pressure and people trying to get you to do something" said Anna Thoms, 13, who is an 8th-grade student on the Associated Student Body (ASB) at Coronado Middle School.
She is a supporter of the new video curriculum that takes a more aggressive approach to the traditional 'just say no' to drugs message.
Owen Ehrlichmann, 13, is also in 8th grade and on the school's ASB. Both he and Thoms are aware of the reality of illegal drug use.
“When it’s so accessible these days, it’s almost impossible for there not to be at least one person who lives in Coronado, who is a student, who’s experimenting with something like this," he said.
Red Ribbon Week officially started in 1988, a few years after members of a Mexican drug cartel tortured and murdered Enrique (Kiki) Camarena, an agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration from Calexico.
“The fact that we are plateauing instead of tripling or quadrupling like we were, means that something is working. (It means) that we are collaboratively fighting for our children’s lives."Summer Stephan, San Diego County District Attorney
Right now, the majority of drug overdose deaths across San Diego County are caused by fentanyl. In 2019, 152 people died from ingesting the potent synthetic opioid. That number soared to 814 deaths by 2021 and stayed the same in 2022.
“The fact that we are plateauing instead of tripling or quadrupling like we were, means that something is working. (It means) that we are collaboratively fighting for our children’s lives," said San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan, who also spoke at Tuesday's press conference.
