Friendswood schools celebrate Red Ribbon Week

Every school has its own theme every day of the week to effectively get out its drug-free message to other students and faculty.

The Friendswood ISD kicked off Red Ribbon Week, an event that encourages students in grades K through 12 to be drug- and alcohol-free, on Saturday, Oct. 15.

Every school has its own theme every day of the week to effectively get out its drug-free message to other students and faculty.

Red Ribbon Week started back in 1985, following the murder of an undercover Drug Enforcement Agent, Enrique Kiki Camarena, at the hands of a drug gang in Mexico. People in Camarena's hometown of Calexico, Calif., began wearing red ribbons to honor and remember him. The Virginia Federation of Parents and the Illinois Drug Education Alliance took notice and called on all Americans to wear red ribbons to show their commitment to remain drug-free and fight drug abuse.

It became a national movement in 1988, under the leadership of the National Family Partnership, with Nancy Reagan as honorary chairperson. Red Ribbon Week is now celebrated annually during the last full week in October. More than 100,000 schools and communities nationwide participate.