Students from one Louisiana school receive information about drug abuse prevention

Schools in the U.S. are helping more teens learn about their bodies and the consequences of using illicit substances. As a result, drug prevention programs are lending their expertise in helping adolescents become more aware of how they develop mentally, physically and emotionally.

For instance, Neville High School recently teamed up with the University of Louisiana at Monroe College of Nursing and Pure and Applied Sciences to provide teens access to information on issues ranging from substance abuse, teen suicide and sexually transmitted diseases, The News Star reports.

Officials told the news source that three northeastern Louisiana teenagers committed suicide in the past six months, one of which attended Neville High School.

As a result, many teens attended the teen depression and suicide displays to learn more about the behavior.

"The whole idea is to be able to give the them the knowledge they need to fight against substance abuse, violence and crime, teenage suicide and obesity and to make them aware about teen pregnancy and the sexually transmitted diseases that are not talked about as much," Bessie G. Smith, sponsor of the program, told the news provider.

According to the Centers for Disease Control Prevention, there are approximately 100 to 200 suicide attempts among people between ages 15 and 24 each year.