- One option is to depict the horror of what a life of drug use can do. A banner across the top should introduce the notion, with a phrase such as: "This is what drugs do to you." Illustrations, cutouts and pictures below can show demons, graveyards, police cars, jails, hospitals, insane asylums and all other dark, scary places people can end up if they follow the path where drugs lead. The overall color scheme should be dark, depressing and scary, complete with a couple of skeletons. Students can include illustrations of syringes, marijuana leaves, cocaine packets and other drugs and their paraphernalia.
- On the flip side of the horror door, a door can be outfitted in all the positive aspects of life that are possible without the use of drugs. This door should be bright, cheery and include a banner such as: "A life without drugs can lead to awesome things." Illustrations, cutouts and pictures can depict sunshine, smiling faces, report cards with stellar grades, photos of professionals in their trades, people hugging, family shots and fun vacation photos. One more idea is to divide the door in half, with one half depicting a life of drugs balanced with similar images on the other half depicting a drug-free life. One example would be a life of drugs photo of a shack balanced out by a drug-free life photo of a gorgeous home.
- To get students really thinking and writing about the benefits of avoiding drugs, a door can also be decorated with small notes written by the students. Pick a shape for each note, such as a star, heart, outline of a hand or other design, and have each student write three reasons why he or she would never do drugs. Stick each note on the door beneath the banner that reads something like: "I would never do drugs because ..." Any color scheme can be used for this design, but the door will look best with some uniformity. Perhaps you can opt for a red background, in honor of Red Ribbon Week, covered with white and blue circles as the notes.
