NORTH SALT LAKE — Mary Kaye Huntsman, Utah's first lady, is touting an initiative for teenagers to tell their peers about their past problems. She outlined the program during a luncheon for Life-Line on Friday.
Huntsman has been recruiting teenagers for the program, called Power In You, for speaking about 10 roadblocks teenagers face — drugs and alcohol, eating disorders, harassment, gangs, depression, cancer, diabetes, poverty, disability and diversity. She spoke to participants and employees of Life-Line, a treatment program for teenagers with substance abuse, depression or family or legal problems.
"We try to focus on teenage kids as they go into junior high and high school and hopefully give them hope," Huntsman said. "There's nothing as precious as these young teenage kids going out and making all these choices in life."
She drew heavily from the example of her daughter, Elizabeth, who has juvenile diabetes. At various times during treatment, Huntsman said, Elizabeth felt overwhelmed by a never-ending stream of blood tests, shots and the constant monitoring required to manage the disease. She and her mother worked to develop an introductory package for children just diagnosed with diabetes, and Elizabeth presented it to patients still in the hospital.
The experience "helped her recontrol what was controlling her," Huntsman said.
Huntsman expanded the idea, developed it for different diseases, and eventually morphed it to Power In You.
"Kids want to help other kids," Huntsman said. "All they want to do is be able to give back."
Three to four teenagers who best represent each one of the 10 categories will serve as ambassadors to classmates, telling how they recovered from their problems. The hope is that teenagers will listen to peers more readily than they do adults.
Huntsman wants to publish a book about the program and produce a documentary with segments from each Power In You section.
E-mail: kswinyard@desnews.com