Students celebrate Red Ribbon Week

Students across the country are celebrating Red Ribbon Week and taking a stance against drugs. This year’s theme is “YOLO–be drug free–you only live once” Riverside County Sheriff’s Deputy District Attorney, Michael Tripp, held a presentation Wednesday afternoon at Valley View Elementary. “We have individuals who have lived the life, who have gone down the those roads, made those poor decisions we talk about all the time. And they are all men and women who have been rehabilitated who just kind of come out and share their stories. It really is more of a cautionary tale, and they explain to the kids, ‘those things that Mike just said, all of those bad decisions, I made those, and this is where it got me’,” said Tripp. Tripp says it’s important students get the law enforcement point of view, but it resonates even more when they learn from first hand experiences. “The two guys who were talking, that was the interesting part..like I can’t believe they were in that time…like i can’t even imagine it,” said Deza Vasquez, a sixth-grade student at Valley View. “So if we can come out and educate them and tell them what to expect from that life then hopefully we can dissuade a lot of those youngsters from even experimenting with those lifestyles,” said Tripp. A lifestyle that students say they can say no to. “I can do it!,” chanted a Valley View fifth-grade class during Tripp’s presentation.