Published: March 13, 2008 09:43 pm            

Teen summit targets health

Congratulations to those involved in organizing a teen health summit this week in Indianapolis.

Hundreds of students are scheduled to descend on the Indiana Convention Center for an event called “Reducing the Risks: Hoosier Teens Talk Health.” The plan is to get teenagers talking among themselves about making the right choices.

They’ll have a lot to talk about.

A survey last year found one in five Indiana high school students had packed a weapon, more than half had tried cigarettes and nearly half had had sex. One in seven weighed too much, and one in 14 had tried suicide.

It was that survey that led state officials to organize this week’s summit.

Clearly, the state has a lot of work to do in making its residents healthier. Indiana routinely fares poorly in comparison with other states when it comes to eating right, getting exercise and avoiding smoking, and this summit is one of a series of state initiatives aimed at changing that.

The summit’s target audience is high school students, ages 14-18.

Participants will be encouraged to speak openly during sessions that tackle such topics as body image, dating, bullying, binge drinking and prescription drug use. Other sessions will cover self-defense for young women, preventing violence, nutrition and mental health, physical activity and positive peer pressure.

Organizers are hoping the teens themselves might play a role in crafting strategies to address the various issues.

Some might leave the conference with ideas that will allow them to have an immediate impact in their home communities. Others might go into professions where they can make a difference for future generations.

Whatever happens, state officials acknowledge that the problems they’ll be discussing won’t be solved overnight. They hope to make the summit an annual event.

The issues the conference participants will be discussing are weighty ones. Violence. Suicide. Teen pregnancy.

But they are issues that Indiana and the rest of the nation clearly need to address. Talking to the teenagers themselves seems like a great place to start.

– Pharos-Tribune, Logansport, and Kokomo Tribune

        

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