The posters plastered around the walls of the high school with the saying, “7 out of 10 LZHS students are alcohol free,” are an all too common statistic that students are familiar with.

While many students may laugh or joke at these statistics, the high school dedicates the whole week of October 31 to November 3 for Red Ribbon week in order to raise awareness for students to make smart decisions and stay drug and alcohol free.

It is necessary for students to take this week seriously, and reflect on the choices they make each day. Even though some students may not take away any advice from Red Ribbon week, it is possible to change the life or choices students make.

Monday primarily focused on having students sign a pledge card, promising to stay drug and alcohol free. In return, Interact members volunteered to hand out hot chocolate and donuts after students signed the pledge card in the morning before school.

Although most students came up to the tables just for the free food and drinks, it was important for them to take time out and make a promise to themselves to make smart decisions. This can make a student think twice before experiencing with harmful substances.

Morning distributors handed out cloths to clean cell phone or iPad screens that read, “Most students are alcohol free” on Tuesday morning. Students joked around at the saying and even handed back the screen wipe to the distributors after reading, saying they were not alcohol free.

While this week should be spent focusing on making good decisions for students’ health and future, they could not grasp the true importance of Red Ribbon week.

“I think that no one knows it is Red Ribbon week,” Alyson Wisnionski, sophomore and Interact volunteer for Red Ribbon week, said. “Students need to take Red Ribbon week a little more seriously because it is a very important week which we encourage alcohol and drug free students.”

Although there were signs posted on the walls for each theme day, it appeared that there were very few to no students dressed up, for example wearing red on Wednesday. Whether students did not know about it or just did not care, it was clear to see how students disregarded the option to support the idea of staying drug and alcohol free.

Red Ribbon week’s meaning and purpose did not reach out to students the way it could have. While the week could have been spent by students appreciating their health and taking care of themselves by staying drug and alcohol free, very few students took it seriously, and instead laughed at the school’s attempt to raise awareness.

Red Ribbon week is a great opportunity to teach students about making the right decision, but unfortunately only some students realize the true importance of the week.

“It is important to encourage all students in the high school to be drug free because high school is a time where being drug and alcohol free is very important,” Wisnionski said. “There are a lot of influences that surround you, so you need to keep your head on straight.”