{"id":318741,"date":"2024-11-11T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-12T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=318741"},"modified":"2024-11-13T03:37:24","modified_gmt":"2024-11-13T03:37:24","slug":"us-army-in-japan-wraps-up-red-ribbon-week-by-urging-youths-to-opt-for-smart-healthy-drug-free-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=318741","title":{"rendered":"US Army in Japan wraps up Red Ribbon week by urging youths to opt for smart, healthy, drug-free life"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Members of the Torch Club, a Boys and Girls Clubs of America initiative aimed at helping nurture and develop teen leadership skills, perform a skit Nov. 1 at the Camp Zama Youth Center as part of the final day of events recognizing Red Ribbon Week.
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\n Command Sgt. Maj. David Rio, right, U.S. Army Garrison Japan\u2019s senior enlisted adviser, spoke to children Nov. 1 at the School Age Center on Sagamihara Family Housing Area as part of the final day of events recognizing Red Ribbon Week.
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CAMP ZAMA, Japan \u2013 The U.S. Army in Japan community wrapped up another successful Red Ribbon Week with senior leaders speaking directly to community youths Nov. 1 about the importance of living drug-free lives.<\/p>\n

Red Ribbon Week is the longest and largest anti-drug campaign in the country and its goal is simple: to educate youths on the dangers and negative side effects of drugs. This year\u2019s Red Ribbon Week theme was \u201cLife Is a Movie, Film Drug-Free.\u201d<\/p>\n

Organizers closed out the week by hosting a few final events on both Camp Zama and the Sagamihara Family Housing Area, including military working dog demonstrations at Zama Middle High School and an anti-drug skit at the Youth Center.<\/p>\n

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\n A military working dog bites into the arm guard of Spc. Joseph Hensley, a military working dog handler assigned to the 901st Military Police Detachment, during a demonstration at Zama Middle High School on Camp Zama, Japan, as part of the final day of events recognizing Red Ribbon Week.
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\n Children at the School Age Center on Sagamihara Family Housing Area pose for a group photo Nov. 1 as part of the final day of events recognizing Red Ribbon Week.
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Zama Middle High School\u2019s principal, James Rippard, volunteered to assist the 901st Military Police Detachment with the military working dog demonstration. Rippard donned a padded training suit, and to the cheers of the students, attempted to run away from the working dogs, which quickly caught and detained the principal.<\/p>\n

Later that day, U.S. Army Garrison Japan\u2019s senior enlisted adviser, Command Sgt. Maj. David Rio, spoke to children at the School Age Center on SFHA.<\/p>\n

Rio reminded the children that they are the directors of their own lives.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Life Is a Movie, Film Drug Free\u2019 means you have the power to make good choices and create the best version of your story,\u201d he said. \u201cKeep making smart choices, support your friends, and remember that we\u2019re all here to help you along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n Col. Marcus Hunter, commander of U.S. Army Garrison Japan, speaks to children Nov. 1 at the Camp Zama Youth Center as part of the final day of events recognizing Red Ribbon Week.
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During the final event of the week, USAG Japan Commander Col. Marcus Hunter visited the Camp Zama Youth Center and watched a skit performed by members of the Torch Club, a Boys and Girls Clubs of America initiative aimed at helping nurture and develop teen leadership skills.<\/p>\n

Hunter thanked the club members for their hard work and dedication and for working to create the skit for their fellow teens.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the Torch Club, you guys are holding up a torch, which is your example for other people to see and be able to follow,\u201d he said. \u201cIf they\u2019re in darkness, they can see your good example and follow you.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also spoke about the meaning of this year\u2019s theme and how youth will ultimately make important decisions on their own futures.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea is to pick a great story,\u201d he said. \u201cPick a great movie, and in doing that, you think long-term \u2026 \u2018What do you want to be when you grow up?\u2019 All these decisions you\u2019re making throughout your life, and every day now, send you in that direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maria N. Ortiz, a USAG Japan risk reduction program coordinator, said she believed this year\u2019s Red Ribbon Week was very successful, as the Army Substance Abuse Program saw active participation from elementary, middle and high school students and multiple community partners.<\/p>\n

She thanked Army Community Service, Child and Youth Services and Department of Defense Education Activity staffers for their enthusiasm, ideas and help during the entire week of the campaign \u201cto bring the message for every youth in our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ortiz also stressed the importance of putting a year-round focus on urging youths to make smart and healthy choices.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs parents, employees, service members \u2014 all of us have the responsibility to teach our youth generation to avoid drugs,\u201d she said. \u201cI encourage everyone who has youth[s] in their house to have these hard conversations about drugs and drinking underage. We are our kids\u2019 role models, and prevention starts with us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1 \/ 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption \u2013 Members of the Torch Club, a Boys and Girls Clubs of America initiative aimed at helping nurture and develop teen leadership skills, perform a skit Nov. 1 at the Camp Zama Youth Center as part of the final day of events recognizing Red Ribbon Week. (Photo […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":318743,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-318741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=318741"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318741\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":318749,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318741\/revisions\/318749"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/318743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=318741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=318741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=318741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}