“Have you ever been really super depressed for a long time and had thoughts of suicide?” “If people in your family drink a lot, will you drink a lot?”
“What could I do about bullies who pick on me for my disabilities?” “Is it wrong to hurt yourself on the inside to look better on the outside?”
These are just a few of the questions on the minds of local teenagers in the Chattahoochee Valley area. There to provide the answers and an honest look at living with integrity is Teen Advisors, a Columbus-based organization that uses positive peer pressure to help students make right choices.
The concept
“Peer pressure is so powerful in the life of a teenager, so rather than trying to fight against the power of peer pressure, we use it to the teens’ advantage: empowering them to influence each other to make positive decisions,” said Nick Cash, director for Teen Advisors.
“I could speak to sixth-graders about how to make positive choices, and I might make some difference, but if a seventh- or eighth-grader walks in and gives the exact same speech, it would have a hundred times more impact because those sixth-graders know that older kid.”
The method
Teen Advisors, including its related middle school program, Velocity, involves more than 600 students who have signed a contract pledging to abstain from drugs, alcohol and sex and to be positive role models.
These students in turn influence thousands of their peers both by leading by example and by holding classroom sessions, where they share their choices with younger students. During the discussion-based sessions, topics addressed can include drugs, alcohol, dating, sexual abstinence, family relationships, peer pressure and self-esteem, Cash said.
At the end of each session, teens can ask questions, submitted anonymously on note cards. Recent questions have dealt with subjects ranging from deployments, academic fears and popularity to abuse, loneliness and thoughts of running away.
Members of TA and Velocity also stay plugged in with group events, including field days, boat parties, lock-ins and masquerades and more, Cash said.
“It’s tons of fun,” said 18-year-old Crystal Osburn, who’s been a member of TA for three years.
The impact
One of the greatest benefits of the program is the sense of community. When Osburn’s dad was deployed during her sophomore year, TA was there to support her. When she stood up for her morals, TA was there, too, she said.
“I already had my values. I already knew I didn’t want to cheat, I didn’t want to do drugs, I didn’t want to drink, but it’s nice knowing there are other people at my school who share the same values,” she said. “You don’t feel alone, and it’s easier to resist the peer pressure.”
SFC(R) Eric Kennedy said membership in Teen Advisors positively impacted his three children, who are now grown.
“Each of them are making decisions on character issues that we feel like were greatly influenced by their time spent with Teen Advisors in their high school years,” he said. “I just see the impact Teen Advisors has had on them … in the way they live their lives today.”
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