This week is Red Ribbon Campaign Week – a time for schools and communities to take a stand against drug use. It is also a time to remember Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, a drug enforcement officer who was murdered in Mexico City twenty years ago by the drug traffickers he sought to stop.
Kiki grew up in a house with dirt floors, but that didn’t stop him from dreaming that one day he could make a difference in the world. He worked his way through college, served in the Marines, and then became a police officer. So far, so good, but when Kiki decided to become a drug enforcement officer, his mother balked. She tried to talk him out it.
“I’m only one person,” Kiki told his mother, “but I want to make a difference.” Kiki had convictions about drug enforcement – he also had the courage of his convictions.
So, at 37 years of age, Kiki accepted an assignment to work undercover in Mexico, investigating a major drug cartel. His wife went with him, and it was she that Kiki was to meet for lunch on February 7, 1985. But Kiki never made it. He never made dinner that day either. One month later, his body was found in a shallow grave, tortured and killed by the drug cartel.
Friends began wearing red ribbons in memory of Kiki and the convictions for which he courageously stood – and their red ribbons became a symbol of intolerance towards drug use.
Character counts in fighting drug use, and I hope courage of convictions will be plucked from the list of character traits for close examination this week. I hope high school teachers will introduce the study of this powerful character trait to their teenagers. I hope they will read a book that illustrates and teaches the trait – a book like Passport to Courage. I hope they will help students see that they can stand up to peer pressure when it comes to drug use; that they can develop and exercise their own courage of convictions, just as Enrique “Kiki” Camarena developed and exercised his.
Character Counts in fighting drug use, but are we helping our youth build that kind of character? Are we striving to be certain they understand fully what courage of convictions means, and how it applies to daily life? Are we laboring to convince them that it does apply to daily life?
Or are we playing games? Are we simply decking the halls with red ribbons and talking about how bad drugs are, without building the strong character that alone can withstand the pressure to try drugs?
Last week was National Character Counts Week. I wonder if schools and communities celebrated it as much as they will celebrate the fight against drug use. Probably not. We are quick to fight reactionary battles, but slow to be proactive in avoiding those battles.
Character counts in fighting drugs, and until our schools and communities become proactive in building strong character, the fight will not be won.
That’s the view from my chair. What’s your view?