Drinking, abuse, financial responsibility are topics of Kent’s ‘Game of Life’ for teens

It may have been called the Game of Life, but the topics being discussed this past week during the 23rd annual event at Kent Commons were anything but child’s play.

Middle and high school students from Kent, Renton and Enumclaw participating in the two-day event attended a series of lectures on topics such as the dangers of underage drinking, domestic abuse, suicide prevention, financial responsibility and several other issues that they will face as they grow to adulthood, all with the hope that they become student ambassadors to educate others about what they’ve learned.

“We want them to take what they’re learned here and take it back to their schools,” said Stacy Judd, Public Education Specialist for the Kent Police Department. “All of them are life-lesson classes.”

The event is funded in part through a Drug Free Community grant from the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Judd said the event was an example of “peer to peer” education because the topics for the program were chosen by members of the Youth Board, a group of local teens whose mission is to educate and raise awareness about youth issues and inspire positive action in the community.

Members of the Youth board even hosted a workshop of their own, teaching leadership skills.

“We have the youth-board members educate peers on the topics they think are important,” Judd said.

Each of the approximately 300 students who participated took three workshops and then heard a keynote speech on goal-setting before taking part in a school team-planning session on how to best take what they’ve learned back to their own schools.

Youth Board member Anna Le, a junior at Kentwood High School, said the annual Game of Life was a chance to learn positive things and help people make good choices when faced with difficult decisions, such as underage drinking.

“We try to get the word out to kids to go above the influence,” Le said.

“We basically work with them and teach them about drug prevention and drinking,” agreed fellow Youth Board member Patrick Pham, a sophomore at Kentwood.

Pham said the larger goal is to spread the message beyond the day to make a larger difference.

“I feel that getting the community involved actually reduces crime because everybody feels like they have to give back,” he said.

According to Judd, that is part of the plan.

“When they take pride in their community they take better care of it,” she said.

Lacuriya Thompson, a junior at Renton High School, said the day taught her not to take anything for granted because “little problems could turn into big problems.” She added that it was important to be a leader.

“Don’t follow what they’re doing; make your choices,” she said.

Hunter Eider, a seventh-grader at Dimmitt Middle School in Renton, said he learned about the principles of leadership and was looking forward to sharing that information at school.

“All this new knowledge we’re going to use to our advantage to tell other people at our school,” he said.

Mill Creek Middle Schooler Laura Lystedt said she got the most out of the suicide-prevention class.

“I learned how to see if people are considering suicide or not,” she said, adding that showing interest and listening to them are the best forms of intervention.

She also said that she was considering joining the Youth Board because the students who were part of it seemed so content.

“It kind of seems like they feel happy because they’re helping people,” she said.