Good, Clean Fun

School officials combined a weekend of fun with an anti-drug, anti-gang message for about 500 students from Norwalk and La Mirada. Last week’s second annual Youth-2-Youth Conference featured skits, rallies and a variety of workshops, including tie-dyeing, self-defense, and country and Western dancing. Along the way, counselors divided students into small groups to discuss the risks of gangs and drugs. Bob Golic of the L.A. Raiders drew cheers from the youths and spoke about how drugs had claimed the lives of some of his friends.

The conference ran from Saturday morning to Sunday afternoon at Glenn High School in Norwalk and included a sleep-over in the gym. Participants, who ranged from sixth-graders to seniors in high school, paid $20 per person to attend. Local businesses and donors made scholarships available for students unable to pay the registration fee, and more than 100 volunteers donated their time. The students’ souvenirs included free pens, pencils, note pads, T-shirts and sweat shirts. Most of them bore the weekend’s slogan: “Drug free the way it should be.”