The school week of October 24-28 featured NC’s Teen Action Counsel (TAC) Red Ribbon Week. NC’s school club, TAC, sponsored the week’s themes for Red Ribbon Week, which celebrates the choice of a drug-free life over addiction. The club consists of a group of student leaders who strive to influence the lives of their peers by promoting healthy living and educating others on the risks of substance use. TAC allows students to become peer leaders, impact the teenage community and interpret spirit week as a new reason to appreciate life by not living for drug use or addiction, but for  future and success.

“We were planning how to do Red Ribbon Week. We wanted to affect the school positively, you know, when people get that ‘don’t do drugs’ talk, they’re always like, we’ve heard that before, so they’re not going to listen to anything unless there’s an initiative for it. We thought of creating a scavenger hunt and dress-up days to put together something fun for everyone. We collaborated on what things we wanted to do for dress-up days and made announcements about Red Ribbon Week,” TAC president junior Saraya Demercado said.

To involve students and faculty and invite them to participate in Red Ribbon week, TAC organized themed dress-up days for each day for students and faculty in respect to the day’s motivational message. 

Pajama day took place Monday, and several dressed in their comfortable sleepwear to represent the dreams that drugs ruin due to consumption and addiction. Monday also provided students with an excuse to not wear regular clothes. Tuesday featured future career day and illustrated the message, “if drugs cost you your future, don’t pay for it with your present.” The short-term satisfying effects one may feel from taking drugs can destroy a successful future and damage one’s destiny. 

“It makes me feel accomplished knowing we can make a difference with the Teen Action Council. It is important to spread awareness on living a drug-free life because you never want to mess up what you have going for you or your body. Like the phrase, ‘it takes a village,’ many people do drugs without thinking of their future and suffer terrible consequences when they could have the life they always wanted,” junior Gabbie Smith said. 

Wednesday featured blackout day, during which members of the TAC awarded participants dressed in black with candy during lunchtime with the message, “drugs will trick you, so have a treat” on the candy’s seal. Behind the statement’s irony, TAC works toward making their fellow teens aware of the dangers of different substances and substance abuse. They target teens that fall victim to underage drinking, smoking and misuse of medication, along with tackling the increased consumption of vaping devices among teens, which, when inhaled, can alter developing teenage brains and can lead to severe health issues. 

“People think it’s a one-time thing, but when you do it once, you won’t be able to stop, and that is the scary part. It’s just important to me that people think about their future before making such a life-changing decision,” Smith said.  

Students dressed in nightgowns and wore gray wigs to honor Thursday’s theme of senior citizen day. The message, “don’t let drugs put you in a grave,” allowed TAC to relay clear and transparent advice to those continuing long-term use of drugs. To finalize the school week, Friday featured jersey day as a means to team up against drugs; by students wearing their favorite jersey or team, it meant TAC reached students around NC to join their cause. 

“Being a part of Teen Action Council makes me feel proud. I have been a part of TAC since my freshman year in 2020, and I help to advertise and spread our cause. When it comes to making an impact in NC and on teens in the community, I feel it is important to spread awareness of living a drug-free life. Because drugs can have a lot of negative impacts on people, leading to addiction and, even worse, death,” junior Chemiyah Wilson said.

With the week coming to a close, the approach to cease the use of drugs among teens never ends. TAC continues its initiative to reach out, calling for teen support and spreading its cause. This week allowed for a group of people who feel negatively about drug use to relay their message. 

Here lie reliable sources to reach if seeking help or struggling with substance use:

National Suicide Hotline 

1-800-273-8255

Trevor Project 

1-866-488-7386

Text “START” to 678678

Steve Fund 

Text “STEVE” to 741741

Georgia Crisis & Access Line

1-800-715-4225

This is Quitting 

Text “DITCHVAPE” to 88709