By DONNA KENNY KIRWAN

PAWTUCKET--It was Halloween, but the students, many dressed in costume, were at City Hall on Friday to highlight something much scarier: underage drinking.

By DONNA KENNY KIRWAN

PAWTUCKET--It was Halloween, but the students, many dressed in costume, were at City Hall on Friday to highlight something much scarier: underage drinking.
At the 12th annual “Red Ribbon Week” ceremony sponsored by the Pawtucket Substance Abuse Prevention Task Force, students from many of the city’s schools competed for trophies by delivering creative presentations the dangers of teen drinking. Using this year’s theme, “Underage Drinking--Not a Minor Problem,” the youngsters performed short skits, rap songs, dances, and poetry related to the issue and prevention.
In addition, Mayor James E. Doyle and Attorney General Patrick Lynch used the occasion to officially launch Pawtucket’s new Underage Drinking Tip-line. The task force has set up the 24-hour hot line so concerned citizens can report tips about underage drinking parties, people who are supplying alcohol to minors, and the names of retailers who are serving minors. The tip-line is: 1-866-252-3784.
Diane Dufresne, director of the task force, noted that the “Red Ribbon Week,” modeled after a national program, is a popular yearly competition among the city’s schools. She also spoke about the importance of the tip-line, calling it “a new opportunity in the fight to end underage drinking.”
Doyle praised the work of the task force in its efforts to help youngsters find positive alternatives to drugs and alcohol. He said the intent of the tip-line is to combat underage drinking and keep the city’s youth safe from its dangers. “It is not meant as a tool to hurt or punish, but to help people,” stated Doyle.
Lynch told the students that in his capacity as attorney general, he sees all too often the tragic results of underage drinking and drug use. “Nothing is more heartbreaking then when young people make bad decisions, especially for drugs and alcohol,” he stated.
Lynch said that measures such as the tip-line are meant to “get you to maturity” and he called on the teens themselves to do their own policing of underage drinking and to reach out to a parent or other adult when they know that something is wrong. “You’re the ones living on the front line,” said Lynch. “That's what this tip-line is all about.”
State Rep. Joseph McNamara, who is also the School Department’s Health and Wellness Coordinator and director of the Alternative Learning Program, noted that teenage drinking “does more than ruin health and lives...it steals people’s dreams.”  Quoting poet Langston Hughes, he urged the students to reject drugs and alcohol and “hold fast to your dreams.”
The Red Ribbon Week contest is open to all students in public or private schools. They competed in categories according to elementary, junior high and high school.
In the elementary school category, Winters Elementary School won first prize for its skit called “Celebrity Feud” modeled after the “Family Feud” TV game show, and among the junior high entries, Woodlawn Regional Catholic won a trophy for the twelfth straight year for a skit that featured a dream sequence and a send-up of another popular game show, “Deal or No Deal.”
Additionally, the Walsh School for the Performing Arts took top honors for an elaborate musical performance of an original song called “Teenage Tragedy” that was done in teacher Scott Beauregard’s music class, and the Cunningham Elementary School earned the Sr. Martha Serbst Spirit Award for its lively synchronized dance performance entitled “Drinking Stinks.”