Students receive message for Red Ribbon Week

The seventh- and eighth-graders at Sidney Middle School kicked off Red Ribbon Week with a special guest speaker, Judge Derek Weimer, on Monday afternoon.

Red Ribbon Week is an annual campaign, this year it's recognized from Oct. 23-31. The campaign is the oldest and largest drug prevention program celebrated in schools and communities across the country.

The campaign originated in honor of Kiki Camarena, a Drug Enforcement Agency agent and former Marine, who was kidnapped and murdered by drug traffickers in Mexico.

This year's theme, "Respect Yourself. Be Drug Free," was created by a middle school student in Ohio hoping to send a positive message. During the campaign, students are encouraged to take the pledge to never try drugs and make positive choices.

Weimer spoke to students about choices. He said that the good and bad news about being at this point in their lives was their added responsibilities.

Weimer said that he's been speaking to students over the years about consequences how their decisions will effect their future.

"You've been told since kindergarten, don't do drugs and don't smoke. I want to remind you of that. However, I think there is a broader discussion. The broader message is you are making choices every day in your life and those choices have consequences, good and bad."

He explained to the crowd about the "eight-second rule."

"When you are faced with a decision, you will make a decision within eight seconds," he said. "Whether you make the right or wrong decision, you'll make it in eight seconds. This week when you have people talking about substance abuse and the dangers of narcotics and using controlled substances, don't hear it as 'don't do this, don't do that.' Dig deeper on that."

Weimer asked students why they wouldn't play sports or be on stage while using drugs. Many responded that they would mess up or wouldn't be able to think straight.

"If you wouldn't play football, wrestle or run track on drugs, why would you get behind the wheel of a car," he asked. "You're putting other people's lives at risk. I want to make this a positive discussion and make you be bold in your choices. Bold choices means bold consequences."

He also encouraged students to stay involved in whatever it is they want to do, whether it's sports, choir, band or speech.

"Do it, you're getting a chance to be educated for free," he said. "You might think to yourself that you can't run, but you go out for cross country and all of the sudden a few weeks in you realize you can run three and a half miles. Make bold choices. Be bold in the decisions you make. There will be opportunities that are put in front of your for the rest of your life to make good and not so good decisions."

To end the discussion Weimer reminded how powerful technology and cell phones are, using gun safety as a comparison.

"This isn't a phone, it's a hand-held computer. When you shoot a gun, you always make sure what is behind what you're shooting at because sometimes the bullet travels through things or you might miss. That's no different than what you choose to do with this (cell phone)," he said. "When you take a picture and hit send, you aren't just sending it to the person on the other end of the message. You are sending that to whoever that person decides to send it to. These things are incredibly powerful."

Before opening up the discussion to questions, he concluded by saying that sometimes the right decisions are the hardest ones to make.