‘Healthy Teens’ Rally Encourages Wise Decision Making In All Areas Of Life

TUPELO, Miss. (WCBI) – Equipping teenagers to make positive choices in all aspects of life, that was the focus of a day long , high energy event in Tupelo.

Speakers and vendors at the rally had one goal.

“We are trying to help these students, as the theme says, to combat risky choices,” said Liz Ketchum, state director of “Healthy Teens.”

More than 2,500 junior high and high schoolers from Northeast Mississippi attended the “Healthy Teens Rally.”   Governor Phil Bryant spearheaded an initiative called “Healthy Teens for A Better Mississippi” and Families First is expanding that program through rallies, to motivate teenagers to set goals and make responsible choices in areas impacting their health and future.

Hands on exhibits included a pull up bar at the United States Marine Corps booth,  and students got a chance to try fatal vision goggles at the Mississippi Highway Patrol booth.

“We’re tossing sandbags and it’s a very simple task, easy simple task, tossing sandbags, then we put our fatal vision goggles on and that simple task becomes extremely difficult to perform we’re trying to get them to take away when you impair your ability to make good sound decisions, those simple, tasks become complex tasks,” said MSGT. Ray Hall, of the Mississippi Highway Patrol.

Students said every teenager can learn something valuable from the rally.

“They want us to learn that not only, we need to be like physically fit and healthy in that way, but if we see someone at school we know is struggling through some things we can do whatever we need to do to save them,” said Eupora High School Senior Allie Whitaker.

“It’s important to motivate people in a very positive way and keep people from going into harm’s way,” said Tupelo High School Sophomore Myles Bennett Poston.

The Tupelo rally was the third and final one in the state.

More than 40 vendors were also on hand for the Tupelo rally.