YAHL ❘ Lead the Effort and Become a Partner

Hi my name is Lauren Pinner, I live in OKC, and I am 14 years old. Last year I joined the YAHL program at my school. Yahl is a youth leadership program, and we are trying to make Oklahoma a healthier place. I decided to join the yahl program because it has amazing goals and I believe that it can truly make a difference for our future generations. Health activism matters to me because many kids aren’t taught healthy habits at a young age, and teens are getting targeted by tobacco companies.

Most schools don’t have a policy for having healthy food options, testing their waters, and physical activity for teens. Teens are supposed to have at least 60 minutes of physical activity everyday and schools aren’t encouraging it. Teens are also getting targeted by tobacco companies again by selling flavored vape products by doing the same thing that they did years ago by saying they are a healthier way to smoke. They are trying to get people addicted at a young age so they get more money.

In the near future we can help give healthier life styles to youth, and get clean water for the schools that don’t have it. We will also stop tobacco companies from targeting youth with vaping products. Tobacco companies need to have a strict policy for who they sell their products to or else they will always keep making new products to sell to teens. Yahl is an amazing program and I believe that it will make a huge difference in the near future.

Differences it can make: if youth don’t have any tobacco vaping products then schools don’t need the smoke detectors in bathrooms. That would let them have extra spending money for getting waters tested, and healthier food options in our cafeterias. If we eat healthier and have more physical activities then we will have more energy and will be able to focus more to preform better in school.

You can help by joining the YAHL team and recruiting other high schoolers to help grow our team!