Students to Attend Health, Safety Conference

Prevention will be the keyword when 250 youths from seven South-Central Los Angeles and Compton high schools gather Friday for a conference focusing on avoiding threats to their health and safety.

Drugs, AIDS, and violence will be among the topics covered at Cal State Dominguez Hills during the eighth annual Youth Conclave sponsored by the South-Central Regional Center for Developmentally Disabled Persons.

“The purpose of the conference is to keep young people from becoming disabled,” said Carolyn Jackson, the center’s director of clinical services. Participants in the conference are not disabled, she said.

“Ninety percent of developmental problems are not genetic,” Jackson said. “Gangs, pregnancy, and drugs are some of the leading causes of being disabled.”

Students from Manual Arts, Jordan, Locke, Fremont, Jefferson, Centennial and Compton high schools will attend.

The conference also hopes to encourage high school students to continue their educations. Exposure to a university is one of the best ways to convince young students to further their education, Jackson said.

“You would be surprised how the students react to being on a college campus,” she said. “They see how nice a campus can be and they want to be a part of it.”