In Honor of Red Ribbon Week

This week is Red Ribbon week at my school (is it the same week at every school, I don't even know). So in honor of this I will share a story of what one of my kiddos said to me just this past week at my school.

My study hall class is working on a gardening project. Actually, we have grant money and we are going to plant and grow native plants behind the school and when they are ready transfer them to the city park. But seeing as to how it is Fall, there is not much we have to do yet for the gardening. And someone complained to me about the looks of another one of the school gardens and how over grown the weeds were. That garden is not my responsibility, but since my kiddos have yet to see a plant after all of the garden talking we've been doing, I thought it would be a great idea to let them help in making this other garden look more presentable.

(I am not just rambling aimlessly, this has to do with red ribbon week, promise.)

So we were out there picking weeds for quite some time when one of my kiddos came up to me and asked, "Miss Jones, are the weeds that we are picking today the same as the ones that black people like to smoke?"

There were so many things wrong with the question that I had to pause for a few moments and let the shock wear off before I attempted to answer.

But I finally composed myself and managed to order the topics of what I needed to address in some fashion of importance.

1. There is a difference between weeds in the garden and the drug people call weed.
2. It is not nice to stereotype people and we may want to try to avoid doing that in the future.
3. Drugs wouldn't be found in garden around the back of the school, or accidently in any garden.
4. If you have further questions regarding drugs, you should definitely ask your parental units. (Not that asking your teacher is bad, but I think parents should be aware of what kinds of things their kids are hearing/thinking about drugs.)

And then we transitioned into today, where everyone was encouraged to wear crazy socks. Because as we all know, crazy socks educate young minds about the importance of staying away from drugs. As will Hawaiian day, camouflage day, wear your favorite teams jersey day and lets not forget to top off the week with school spirit day. Because these things with rid the kiddos of drugs for life!