Now more than ever, MOST KIDS, INCLUDING TEENS, DON’T DRINK ALCOHOL.

October 23-31 is Red Ribbon Week, and we want to shine a spotlight on what’s working to keep kids alcohol- and substance-free. Alcohol consumption among America’s teens is at or near record low levels, so this Red Ribbon Week we want to encourage you to keep doing these 5 things, because what you’re doing is working!

Jessica Matheson, 2022 SHAPE America National Health Education Teacher of the Year, provide some practical tips that will help you stay optimistic and forward thinking throughout the school year.

As we prepare for Red Ribbon Week (October 23-31), let’s tap into kids’ natural curiosity about the developing brain and show them how alcohol and cannabis negatively affect it.

As your family prepares for a new school year, the Ask, Listen, Learn team wants you to feel prepared to have conversations about healthy behaviors with your kids. We queried Responsibility.org’s Educational Advisory Board and asked them for their tips on starting conversations with kids about health and wellbeing and of course, prevention education.

Summer has arrived at last! As part of our 20^th anniversary celebration, we want to challenge you to #Take20withKids while school is out! 

In honor of this special week, created by the Dana Foundation, start conversations about what the developing brain does, what alcohol does to it, and what that does to them.

School counselors are such an important part of the Ask, Listen, Learn community, and we love seeing and learning from their passion for student well-being—both in schools and from afar. They are truly making a big difference in students’ lives. School counselors help parents, students, and educators everywhere see that we are certainly better together.

As we head into the new year and all the goal-setting that comes along with it, let’s take a moment to focus on what we do have and what we’re grateful for. To help with this, we can follow the lead of people like athlete and Classroom Champions mentor Cody Jones.

Social and emotional learning (SEL) is not just a series of lessons to focus on at school, the lessons, goals, and fundamentals can also belong in the conversations and values, and behaviors that continue at home.