5 Red Ribbon Week Activities for Middle School Students

October 23rd marks the beginning of Red Ribbon Week, sparking numerous Red Ribbon Week ideas in educators across the country. Celebrated annually from October 23rd to 31st, Red Ribbon Week is the nation’s largest and longest-running drug and alcohol abuse prevention campaign. This article will discuss five engaging Red Ribbon Week activities for middle school classrooms to teach students the importance of saying no to risky behaviors.

As educators, we play an essential role in promoting the benefits of a healthy lifestyle for our students. With teen substance usage and peer pressure still significant issues in our country, Red Ribbon Week activities for middle school students are an excellent opportunity for your students to learn about the dangers of drugs early in life. This year, try incorporating these five drug-free week activities into your Monday through Friday classes to engage, educate and captivate students.

1. Hold a School-Wide Assembly

Red Ribbon Week ideas and activities are better when you get everyone involved. For the beginning of your Red Ribbon Week, you can hold a school-wide assembly to get your students excited for the week ahead. To make it extra special, you can pass out Red Ribbon Week products the week prior, so everyone can show up wearing coordinated shirts proclaiming this year’s theme: “Celebrate Life. Live Drug-Free.”

During your school assembly, you can also have local law enforcement speak to your students about the dangers of drug abuse. We love these ideas for Red Ribbon Week because they are as interactive and fun as they are educational.

2. Link Up to Be a Drug-Free School

Looking for more Red Ribbon Week ideas for schools that get everyone involved? We’ve got the perfect drug-free week activity. Have your classes all sign red strips of paper as their pledge to live drug-free. Then, link all the signed strips together to create a chain that can hang throughout the hallways. This Red Ribbon Week idea makes a great visual for students and is the perfect daily reminder that everyone needs to work together to create a drug-free school.

3. Paint Rocks That Students Can Hide All Over Town

Red Ribbon Week ideas don’t need to stay within the walls of your school. This activity is a great chance to get your entire community involved in your effort to educate. To get started, carve out some time in your middle school classes to have your students paint rocks with a unique drug-free message. When school gets out for the day, they can leave them all over town for members of your community to find.

4. Use Sidewalk Chalk to Spread Your Message

One of our list’s more exciting ideas for Red Ribbon Week requires a little time outside. Every class can have a chance to go out to the front of the school with sidewalk chalk and decorate the grounds with drawings and drug-free messages for others to see.

We love Red Ribbon Week activities like these because they give students a chance to get some fresh air and express themselves! Every message will be unique to the individual, and they will stay in plain sight all over your school property and sidewalks for the rest of the week.

5. Set Up a Red Ribbon Week School Instagram Account

When discussing Red Ribbon Week activities for middle school students, it’s great to get some technology involved. Instagram is an immensely popular social media app for kids (and adults!) and can help spread your drug-free message to students and their parents.

Kids and parents can take pictures of how they celebrated Red Ribbon Week and submit them to your school page, which you can share for everyone to see! Using a unique hashtag like #RedRibbonWeek2022, everyone can have a chance to see how their friends and families are fighting for drug prevention awareness. These pictures are also great to share on your official school website or community pages to showcase the success of your drug-free week activities.