Every fall, classrooms across the country pause for a moment that can shape a lifetime: Red Ribbon Week, held October 23-31.
As an educator, you shape more than academic outcomes. You help students form beliefs, build identity, and make decisions that impact the rest of their lives.
Red Ribbon Week gives you a rare chance to step outside your regular curriculum and focus on something even more important: the choices your students are making about who they are and who they’re becoming.
You don’t just deliver lessons. You shape how students see themselves, and what they believe they’re capable of.
When you help them build real-life skills like managing emotions, resisting pressure, and thinking ahead, you’re reinforcing everything you already teach. Only this time it’s through a lens that connects directly to their future. You’re giving them the tools to make decisions that protect their lives and define their future.
That’s what this week is about. Not just prevention. Direction and purpose.
Why Prevention Works
Prevention starts early. It builds skills. It surrounds kids with support so they thrive. SAMHSA’s research shows that prevention works best when it gives young people clear tools. These tools help them make choices long before they face any pressure to use substances.
Risk and Protective Factors
Every student carries risk factors like peer pressure, stress, or feeling disconnected at school. They also have protective factors like strong relationships, clear goals, and confidence to say no. Protective factors tip the balance in the right direction. Natural High’s Red Ribbon Week curriculum strengthens those protective factors to help students make choices that protect their lives and future.
The Stories That Stick
This Red Ribbon Week lesson plan walks students through five meaningful conversations, each grounded in a protective social and emotional skill. Along the way, they hear from real people who made hard choices, and came out stronger. These stories help students reflect on what they want, what they stand for, and how to stay on track.
Over 5 days, your class will dig into exploring and building skills like self-awareness, decision-making, and relationship-building that directly helps students resist peer pressure and choose a healthy path forward.
Don’t have time to devote 5 days to Red Ribbon Week lessons? We get it. You’re busy.
One of the best things about our curriculum is how easy it is to make it your own. You can use the lessons all year long. Spread the five lessons out over the semester, or turn them into a weekly routine (one lesson every Friday for five weeks).
Day 1: Self-Awareness
Students start by exploring how their brains respond to excitement and challenge. They learn how pursuing a “natural high” – like music, sports, or art – triggers dopamine, strengthens mental health, and builds protective wiring in the brain. This approach is grounded in neuroscience research that shows how healthy behaviors can buffer against risk-taking in adolescence.
Day 2: Social Awareness
Students hear from musicians, athletes, artists, and creators who share how they stay focused and drug-free. These are stories from real people who made hard choices and stuck to what mattered.
They meet artist Paul Jimenez, who shares how staying connected to his art helped him navigate pressure and stay focused. His story shows how the people you surround yourself with, and the passions you stay committed to, can keep you on a positive path.
It works because it’s grounded in research and proven behavioral science.
Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory shows that students learn by watching others. They pay attention to the people they admire, and when those people model positive habits, it makes a lasting impact.
Role models don’t just influence behavior. They shape what feels possible.
Social influence is powerful. Research from the NIH shows that parents, siblings, friends, and even celebrities in movies and music can shape how students think about drugs. Positive role models and clear, honest conversations can tip the balance in the right direction.
Day 3: Responsible Decision-Making
Students take a close look at the myths they’ve heard about drug use. They compare what they think is true with real data, and most of them are surprised by what they discover.
Olympic hurdler Queen Harrison brings this lesson to life by showing how clear information and strong values help cut through confusion. Her story creates space for students to talk openly about what they’ve heard and what is real.
This lesson is rooted in Social Norms Theory, which explains that many young people believe more of their peers are using drugs than actually are. That false belief creates pressure. When students see the facts, the fog clears and their choices shift.
Truth gives them confidence to choose differently.
Day 4: Relationship Skills
Students learn real-life ways to say no without drama or discomfort. They practice different phrases and rehearse standing their ground until it feels natural.
NBA player Mike Conley Jr. shares how he learned to set boundaries and stay true to himself, even in the face of pressure. His story shows students that confidence grows when you know what to say and have already practiced saying it.
This lesson is grounded in research. Refusal skills training is a key part of effective prevention programs ( found in positive youth development research). When students practice how to respond, they are far more likely to stand firm in real situations.
Saying no is easier when you’ve said it before. Dig deeper into the different types of refusal strategies here.
Day 5: Self-Management
Students step back and look forward. They reflect on where they want to go and what kind of future they want to build.
Boxer Danyelle Wolf talks about discipline, vision, and staying focused on long-term goals. Her story challenges students to connect their choices today with the life they want tomorrow.
This lesson is rooted in the concept of future orientation, a proven protective factor. When students can imagine a future they care about, they are less likely to take risks that could derail it.
Today’s choices shape tomorrow’s reality, and that’s exactly what this lesson will teach students about.
These aren’t random messages. Each one builds on protective factors that have been identified through decades of research. Skills like self-awareness, decision-making, and future orientation are linked to lower rates of substance use and risky behavior (CDC, Search Institute).
As you probably already know, these aren’t random messages.
Each one builds on protective factors that have been identified through decades of research. Skills like self-awareness, decision-making, and future orientation are linked to lower rates of substance use and risky behavior (CDC, Search Institute).
Fentanyl Can’t Be Left Out
Many students still don’t understand the danger of fentanyl. They don’t know how often it’s showing up in fake pills or what makes it so lethal.
This lesson plan includes two focused fentanyl lessons for grades 6-12. They’re honest, age-appropriate, and built to inform, not to scare. You’ll give your students the facts, help them think critically, and open the door to conversations they may not be having anywhere else.
See the latest CDC data on fentanyl and youth overdose
What You’ll Get In Our Red Ribbon Lesson Plans
Everything is ready to use – just download and teach.
- Five short videos featuring inspiring Storytellers
- Daily discussion prompts and reflection questions
- A simple educator guide
- Two age-appropriate fentanyl lessons for grades 6-12
Get the Red Ribbon Week 2025 Lesson Plan
Make It Count
Set aside 20–25 minutes a day. Use that time to help your students think, reflect, and talk about the choices that shape their future.
Here’s how to make the most of it:
- Preview the content. Skim the videos and prompts beforehand so you feel confident going in.
- Set the tone. Let students know this is a space where their voices matter.
- Keep it going. Red Ribbon Week is just the start. Use our free year-round resources to reinforce these lessons.
- Celebrate what works. Whether it’s a strong insight or a student opening up, take the win. It matters.
Help Students Choose What Comes Next
This week is your chance to push pause on everything else and focus on a conversation that often gets crowded out: who your students are becoming, and what kind of future they’re preparing for.
You already do that work every day. This just gives you a powerful, focused way to go even deeper.
Access the Lesson Plan and get started now.
Your Turn
How do your students connect to this message? What are their Natural Highs?
We’d love to hear how your classroom is celebrating Red Ribbon Week. Share your stories and tag us on social media @livenaturallyhigh.
Let’s help every student discover a reason to stay drug-free and live a life they’re proud of.