Students and teachers celebrated Red Ribbon Week Oct. 25-31. The event  is an anti-substance campaign in the U.S. held annually in October. Many school districts have dress-up days and sobriety pledges in order to get students involved.

“Red Ribbon Week is traditionally the role of the Student Council at LHS, likely because we are responsible for other spirit dress up days,” student council sponsor Jenn Moore said.

In addition to the regular dress up days and events, Moore has encouraged students to use the  app “I am Sober,” to help keep students focused on healing and recovering from addiction. 

“I know Tik-Tok has brought awareness to the ‘I Am Sober’ app, but it was actually a student of mine who told me it was legit,” Moore said. “He told me it was giving him the consistent support he needed to stop taking pills.”

Many students use this app to recover from self-harm, drug use or even over-eating. 

“I used to struggle with self-harm and drug abuse,” an Anonymous Sophomore said.  “The ‘I am Sober’ app really made an impact on my life. I remember checking my phone for texts from my friends of which bathroom to meet in, so we could all smoke together. It sounds cheesy but I’m so, so grateful that I’ve quit.”

Staff and students signed a Pledge Wall posted in the lobby to pledge to stay sober for the day. This allowed students to promise to make an effort to stop drug abuse, even if it was only one day. 

“Our ‘Pledge Wall’ definitely sparked conversation between students, teachers and administrators,” Moore said. “Even if it only brought awareness, that’s a positive starting point. 

In moments of desperation, we all make big promises to ourselves.  It’s in the unsupervised tiny pockets of time each day that we need accountability to make the right choices.”