Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009

'Drug Free is the Key!' 1,400 local students get the message

BELLEVILLE -- More than 1,400 local grade school students received an important message Monday at this year's Red Ribbon Rally.

"There's a lot of peer pressure from your friends to be persuaded to do the things that you know are not the right things to do," said Southwestern Illinois College President Georgia Costello. "It's your responsibility to make good choices and be drug-free."

Kindergarten through sixth-grade students from schools throughout St. Clair County attended the 22nd Annual Red Ribbon Rally at SWIC to celebrate the kick-off of Red Ribbon Week, a national campaign that runs from Oct. 23 to Oct. 31 and encourages kids to live a drug-free lifestyle.

The campaign began in 1988 in memory of Enrique "Kiki" Camarena, a Drug Enforcement Administration agent who was murdered while on duty. This year's campaign theme is "Drug Free is the Key!"

The grade school students who attended the rally at SWIC had a chance to watch performances by local high school cheerleaders, dancers, bands, choirs, athletes and a skating group called the Fun Spot Skaters. Several high schoolers offered anti-drug messages to the younger students, many encouraging the younger students to get involved in extracurricular activities because they enrich your high school experience and leave little to no time for doing drugs.

Jay Harrington, SWIC's basketball coach and athletic director, talked about what being drug-free can mean for students' college careers.

"If you have good grades, you get scholarships," he said, noting how a college education can cost about $100,000. "But you can't get good grades if you use drugs. If you want to be a successful athlete -- if you want to be successful in life -- you will stay off drugs."

Harrington also introduced the students to Isiah Nunn, Aaron Nelson and Corbin Thomas, all members of the SWIC basketball team who said they are drug-free.

Costello said exposing the younger students to college students on a college campus is "a great opportunity" to reach them with a drug prevention message.

"I think when they see the older kids they want to be like the older kids," she said.