Red Ribbon Week is an annual celebration and substance use prevention campaign which takes place nationwide in late October. This year, PATH, in partnership with Yancey and Mitchell County Schools, organized Red Ribbon Week events which included hosting a motivational speaker at each middle and high school, as well as student-led initiatives to promote awareness around substance use.
Jared Scott, a public speaker and hip-hop artist contracted through Teen Truth, an organization dedicated to helping teens speak up about their struggles and create positive school culture, spoke at the four middle schools and two high schools of Yancey and Mitchell counties during Red Ribbon Week. Scott spoke on his own struggles as a teenager, and how he learned to use his voice through music to spread hope and positivity to others.
Many students at each school approached him after his talk, either sharing about their inspiration to support their fellow students or relating to his talk due to their own current difficulties with bullying, mental health, or substance use. Scott left each school with a call to action—to stand up for each other and proactively seek out those who may be silently suffering to offer them support and connection.
In addition to the speaker events, students from East Yancey Middle, Harris Middle, and Mountain Heritage High School volunteered to read useful facts on the impact of youth substance use over their schools’ morning announcements. Along with these facts, the students offered their peers practical resiliency skills and tips for maintaining health and wellbeing on a daily basis. Throughout Red Ribbon Week, the activities and discussion surrounding them have been meaningful and impactful to many students, teachers, and parents, and we are grateful to all who played a role in making it happen.
