April 18, 2024


“FOOTBALL RIVALS TEAM UP TO DEFEAT UNDERAGE DRINKING”
Opposing teams to sport red ribbons to highlight city’s social host ordinance

Mission Hills High School Grizzlies and San Marcos High School Knights football teams pause their longstanding rivalry to raise awareness of the dangers of underage drinking, during Red Ribbon Week. All the players will sport red ribbon stickers on their helmets when they meet up for a California Interscholastic Federation football game. Referees, coaches, cheerleaders and other school leaders will show their support by wearing pin-on versions of the ribbons. The goal is to provide students, parents and other football fans with visual reminders that it is illegal to provide anyone under 21 with alcohol or a drinking venue.

Visuals will include:
Players streaming onto the field with red ribbon stickers on their helmets in a sign of unity against underage drinking. Home team captain handing a red ribbon sticker to visiting team captain, who places it on his helmet (immediately before the coin toss).
Cheer squads performing with red ribbons pinned to their uniforms.

When: 7:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Friday, October 26, 2018

Where: San Marcos High School, 1615 West San Marcos Boulevard, San Marcos, CA 92078

Alcohol is the substance most widely abused among American youth.[1] Nearly half (48.3 percent) of San Diego County 11th graders who participated in the 2013-2015 California Healthy Kids Survey reported they had used alcohol at least once.[2] Negative consequences associated with underage drinking include alcohol poisoning, risky sexual behavior physical and sexual assault, and motor vehicle crashes.

This Red Ribbon campaign is designed to raise awareness of underage drinking, help parents and teens understand there is no safe setting for it, and highlight the fact that social host laws protect everyone from the hazards common to underage drinking.

# # #

North Inland Community Prevention Program (NICPP) is operated by Mental Health Systems and is funded in part by the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency, Behavioral Health Services.

About Mental Health Systems
Mental Health Systems is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving lives in the communities they serve through mental health and substance abuse programs that provide prevention, education, treatment, and recovery services. The agency operates more than 85 programs in 70 geographic locations in California. To learn more about Mental Health Systems, please visit www.mhsinc.org.