planetjan

The first year I taught at my school, I was informed that my class needed to make a poster for Red Ribbon Week.  Red Ribbon what?  Something about “Saying no” to drugs.  I was used to the DARE program that my sons attended in middle school. Never mind that by high school all the stoners wore their DARE t-shirts proudly.

The teacher in the classroom next to me had an adorable “Bugs Not Drugs” poster outside her door.  I so love bugs, but THAT idea was taken. A first grade classroom had “Hugs not Drugs” featuring little children with outstretched hands.  Can you say insufferably cute?  So what was I going to do?  One student in my class loved pugs….No, I don’t think so.

When I worked as substitute, I used to take pictures of interesting bulletin boards, or make notes when I saw cool stuff.  I rummaged around and found a poem I’d seen in a high school classroom. I reread it and thought third graders could relate to it as well, as it’s all about peer pressure.  It’s called Jellybeans Up Your Nose.

Not only did my third graders so “get it,” but they made a great poster and won the poster competition.  When we talk about drugs in third grade, most kids think cigarettes.  There are a few kids who confide that their parents drink beer.  One boy confessed that his mother drank something called a Bloody Mary, not to be confused with the specter that haunts school bathrooms. I tell students that when it comes to alcohol, it’s all about moderation, so they don’t go home and give their parents a hard time.  But I’ve also had kids whose lives have been torn apart by drugs and are all too familiar with crack cocaine and syringes.  It makes for one very interesting conversation.

My students loved drawing pictures of the children with Xs for eyes and anime princesses with cigarettes dangling from their lips.

Jellybeans Up Your Nose

Johnny stuck jellybeans up his nose,
That’s a pretty dumb thing to do.
But the other kids said, “Hey Johnny’s real cool!
Let’s put beans in our noses too.”

Well, a kid can’t breathe with beans up his nose,
‘Cause they get all stuck inside.
So Johnny and the kids, well, I hate to say it,
But they coughed and they choked and they died.

That’s a pretty grim tale, I must admit,
And it may not all be true.
Still when somebody cool does something dumb.
You don’t have to do it too.

The origin of Red Ribbon Week is actually a pretty grim tale itself.  To find out all about it, go to Red Ribbon Week on Wikipedia.  It’s an interesting read.  And it’s all true.