TEENS LEARN HEALTHY HABITS AT INSTITUTE

The journey to healthier teens starts with one step, and teen
representatives from 22 high schools in four counties took that step at
Teen Institute last week.

Against the background of the Eastern Arizona College campus, nearly 100
teens, along with support staff and leaders, spent a week learning healthy
habits at the second annual Teen Institute.

At its basic level, Teen Institute's goal is to prevent substance abuse and
suicide, but the two issues are not topics of discussion, Bill Burnett,
prevention manager at the Community Partnership of Southern Arizona, said.

"We teach them to change the situation before it gets that far," Burnett
said. "They need to know how to use their own positive thoughts to avoid
risks."

Attendees of the program walk away with a tool Burnett calls "health
realization." Professionals helped teens through drills that forced them to
look at their thoughts and feelings, then choose to change situations in
which they might be tempted to take unnecessary or unhealthy risks.

"If we can delay choices of using drugs or engaging in sexual activity by
months or years, the chances of having a happy life are better," he said.

Burnett said the number of high school students using marijuana, nicotine
or alcohol are incredible, and there is a direct link from the number to
the high school drop-out rate.

"Teenage brains are not fully developed," he said. "They are not ready to
experience 'adult' things like alcohol or nicotine."

Students from high schools in Graham, Greenlee, Cochise and Santa Cruz
counties attended Teen Institute, and they were sent home with instructions
to use their schools' strengths to make positive changes. Students will
work with site coordinators to identify the needs of their schools and ways
to change things.

"We don't pretend to know what the schools are like," Burnett said. "We
send the students back and let them be leaders and positive role models."

The Pima group, known as the Youth Empowered for Success (YES) team,
attended Teen Institute for the second time this year. It was joined by
peers from Fort Thomas, Safford, Clifton and Duncan.

For a team of four students, one parent and one leader, the cost to attend
Teen Institute ranges from $1,500 to $1,800, Burnett said, but the cost is
worth it to see teens make healthy decisions.

"We're in this for the long haul," he said. "The evidence suggests this is
working, and we plan on expanding every year."

Funds for the program come from the Arizona Department of Health Services
and funnel through localized behavioral health service programs before
arriving in the purse for Teen Institute. Teen Institute is available in 21
states and has been in practice since the 1970s.