MONDAY - Monroe County Tennessee News, Monroe County ...

Page 6 - The BUZZ
Choices
(Continued from pg 1)
stalks, this life-sized maze
is rife with temptations,
life choices, and consequences,
both deadly and
rewarding.
The maze was the epic
conclusion to a ten-week
long abstinence education
program, facilitated
through hour-long weekly
sessions at school and
community service projects.
It is called “Think on
Point.” Funded by the
Community Based Abstinence
Education Grant,
“Think on Point” educated
6th, 7th, and 8th
graders from Sweetwater
Junior High, Vonore Middle,
Tellico Plains Junior
High, Coker Creek, and
Rural Vale on the benefits
of abstinence, as well as
the dangers involved with
risky behaviors.
The Teen Maze itself
gave students the opportunity
to see the long-term
outcomes of those choices
for themselves. Comprised
of twenty rooms, it
presented many lifelike
temptations, from sexual
activity and alcohol, to
drugs and tobacco. Decisions—made
either by a
spinning wheel or drawn
out as a card—led students
to the various outcomes
of their choices.
Some “futures” were wonderful,
and some... not so
much.
“It is all very realistic,”
said Heather Rhymes,
CBAE Program Director
and the mastermind behind
the all-day event.
How so?
Easy: everything in the
maze was fully illustrated.
Experienced professionals
and knowledgeable individuals
manned the individual
booths/tents, and
useable props were the
norm. The participating
students lived out each
and every the situations
they fell into, for good or
for ill.
And the challenges
began at the very begin-
ning of the maze, when
the girls and boys of
TPJHS and CCS (like
their fellows before them,
at earlier Teen Mazes)
were given a choice as to
whether or not to have
pre-martial sex. Several
possibilities popped up
based on the decision they
made.
Some were heartbroken.
Others became pregnant,
and wore an empathy
belly for a little
while—before they then
took up a Baby-Think-It-
Over.
A few even contracted
an STD, and a spin of the
wheel determined just
how the disease affected
their body.
Interesting fact: hardly
any students who became
mothers and fathers at an
early age visited the Vacation
Booth.
But the realism did not
end there.
All the students took
part in a graduation ceremony,
complete with caps
and gowns. They were
even given diplomas.
These diplomas, in turn,
determined a possible fu-
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ture. Would they go on to
earn a GED or earn an
M.A.?
Whatever the outcome,
their ability to purchase a
home and a car (which
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depended on their income,
itself based on their
education.
Marriage also played a
part in the maze. Some
students got married dur-
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