According to the CDC, statistics show that every nine minutes, a young child goes to the Emergency Room because they took medicine that didn’t belong to them and less that one in four caregivers store their medicine safely at home, giving children easy access. To address safety concerns and promote Red Ribbon Week, the Bell County Family and Consumer Sciences Agent partnered with a local school district and their Family Resource Directors to implement a program that would protect their students and prevent accidental ingestion.

     There were 161 elementary school students kindergarten through fourth grade that were taught the importance of choosing healthy behaviors/habits and knowing the difference in good and bad choices. Family and Consumer Sciences Agent used the LEAP curriculum, UK publications on Be Ware of Look-A-Likes, along with Medicine Cabinet or Candy Box display. The students were shown examples of candy and medicine and how one can take care of your sweet tooth, while the other can make you very, very sick.

     After the program concluded:

1. 100% know to tell adults/family members if they have found medication out in the open and take the medicine to the adult and not eat/swallow it.
2. 100% recognize that medication looks like candy.
3. 95% can tell the difference between medicine and candy.
4. 100% pledged to just say no to drugs.