Below are the winners of the Red Ribbon Week Youth Summit. The winners will receive their prizes through their counselors shortly.

First Place winners are the Left Tackles with 9,115 votes!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-Zmbp1_RZM

Second Place Winners are the Safeties with 2,884 votes!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2WrUPJ_3F8

Voting has ended!

Thank you to everyone who voted, we will announce the winner soon!

Centers:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1GN8Aoch6I

Defensive Linemen:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLLhiDokryc

Left Guards:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5mDZVC8ZsE

Left Tackles:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-Zmbp1_RZM

Quarterbacks:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=OX2ltSiAAQc

Right Guards:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrLP8SwMTLw

Right Tackles:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRYlVyXZyBg

Running Backs:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCqIU09uK3I

Safeties:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2WrUPJ_3F8

Wide Receivers:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsL3HGSp6rk

When: October 21, 2010
Where: Paul Brown Stadium
Time: 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Keep watching for more details.

These pictures are from the 2009 Red Ribbon Week Celebration Event held at the Schiff Conference Center at Xavier University’s Cintas Center.  Over 200 K-3^rd graders from Cincinnati Public Schools attended the event.  Students from Schiel School and School for Creative and Performing Arts  provided entertainment.  At the event, students displayed their  committment to living an alcohol and drug-free lifestyle by wearing a red ribbon.

Coordinated on the website, redribbon.drugfreecincinnati.org, schools and community groups from the entire greater Cincinnati region will take part in the annual celebration of Red Ribbon Week. Students in many school districts will receive red ribbons. Wearing the red ribbons shows the commitment of the student to not use drugs or alcohol.

At the Cintas Center, the students will take part in activities designed to build awareness of the dangers of drug and alcohol use and provide support for healthy decision making. Students from the School for Creative and Performing Arts will perform a sketch they have written, and violinists from the Schiel School will perform. In addition to the student-led music and entertainment, youth will see a puppet show “Too Young to be High” and then will make and decorate their own puppets.

This year, the theme of Red Ribbon Week is “Drug Free Is The Key.” On the website, community groups, schools and parents have access to resources and ideas for a successful Red Ribbon Week celebration. There is also an event calendar that displays all the community events happening around the region, including activities from Anderson, Lower Price Hill, Walnut Hills and others.

The Hamilton County Commissioners and the City of Cincinnati have issued proclamations declaring their support for Red Ribbon Week. County-wide events are being sponsored by the Hamilton County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board, and coordinated by the Coalition for a Drug-Free Greater Cincinnati. The Ohio Air National Guard is providing red ribbons to schools across the state. The puppet show at the event is being presented by Urban Minority Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Outreach Program (UMADAOP).

Parents are encouraged to visit the website, redribbon.drugfreecincinnati.org to learn more about how they can support their child’s decision to grow up drug and alcohol free. They can indicate their support with an online pledge.

2009 Red Ribbon Week Press Release

For more information, conatact: Jeff Stewart

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has lots of great materials available for free to help plan your messages and activities.

Visit SAMHSA’s Red Ribbon planning site.

by Marc Grodner, Hamilton County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board

Residents of Hamilton County will celebrate Red Ribbon Week at the end of October. The Red Ribbon Campaign began in 1988 to commemorate the life of Drug Enforcement Agency officer Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, who was tortured and killed in the line of duty. It has since grown into a national campaign promoting community awareness and advocacy for drug and alcohol prevention. The red ribbon carries a simple message – no tolerance for the use of illegal drugs or the illegal use of legal drugs. So why should you wear a red ribbon?

The most recent survey of seventh through twelfth grade students conducted last year by the Coalition for a Drug–Free Greater Cincinnati indicated regular use of alcohol, tobacco and marijuana approximates national averages at 20%, 14% and 10%, respectively. The good news is that since the Coalition first surveyed students in 2000, alcohol use is down by 33%, tobacco by 28%, and marijuana by 33%. The survey also showed that students are starting to use these drugs at older ages than before. This is important because the longer kids wait to use, the less likely they will develop a substance abuse problem as they grow older. Last year, the average age of first use for alcohol, tobacco and marijuana averaged somewhere around13. Still, in national surveys on attitudes toward alcohol and other drugs, teens have consistently rated drugs as their number one concern – a bigger concern than grades, than sex, than social pressure, or even problems with parents.

For those who do choose to use alcohol or other drugs, their impact on society as adults is staggering. Recent studies indicate more than 851,000 Ohioans have a problem with drugs or alcohol including 65,000 people living in Hamilton County. Over 700,000 Ohio children are in some way affected by substance abuse. 80% of Ohio inmates have a substance use disorder, 50% were under the influence of alcohol or other drugs at the time of their arrest, and 17% committed a crime to support their drug habit. But most substance abusers are not in prison – they are on the job. More than 90% of alcohol abusers and 74% of drug abusers are employed. In Ohio, 40% of all fatal workplace accidents involve alcohol or drugs, and 38% to 50% of all workers’ compensation claims are related to substance abuse in the workplace. And out of the workplace, 33% of all suicides in this country and more than 50% of all homicides involve alcohol or other drugs.

So why wear a red ribbon? Certainly to send a message to our children that promotes healthy choices for healthy living. But don’t just wear a ribbon for the children. Wear a red ribbon for the adults too – for your friends, your co–workers, your neighbors and your community.