A local group of teens trying to stop binge drinking are involved in Youth Champions. It's part of an initiative from the Human Services Division of the City and County Denver.
Malique Wedgeworth from Martin Luther King High School, along with Jordan Jones-Potts and Rathana Preap from Montbello are spreading the word about the dangers of drinking.
Each student has his unique story.
Jordan Jones-Potts says his experience comes from knowing what it is like to watch a loved one throw their life away and not be able to help. They are talking to teens and teaching them to find a better way to cope with things than through alcohol.
"In a sense of not knowing what to do with their life and feeling that cloud, they use it as a sense of numbing the pain. But after it's done, it's still there," Jones-Potts said.
Malique Wedgeworth says at Martin Luther King High School, the older students go to parties on the weekend and come back and tell the younger students, so the 12th graders can talk to the sixth graders about partying.
"We tell them you don't want to listen to this. This is peer pressure, and peer pressure is strong," Wedgeworth said.
Rathana Preap says it's the same at Montbello. They have two new schools coming into their building and they are trying to communicate with them.
"We are trying to teach all these older high school students and make them influence the younger students. Make a new generation, to influence the new generation not to drink," Preap said.
Preap also says everyone has personal issues. He says alcohol took his brothers life. It affected everything about him including his physical appearance and he doesn't want others to end up that way.
The group of teens tells 9NEWS that even though the program just started, a large number of students wants to get involved in Youth Champions. Find out more about Youth Champions here:
www.denverrap.org
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