Meet Shelly Bohl from Upham, North Dakota

A Teen Maze is a life-size game where participants examine the consequences of life's choices in a realistic, creative and fun way. Shelly Bohl, who works as an office assistant for the Family Crisis Center in Bottineau, North Dakota, recently started the Teen Maze project at the local schools. Until now, she has had to borrow the pipe and drape system required to divide the stations but they are not always available. Shelly has requested $6,000 for the tools needed to create at least 25 stations of their own, which will allow her to make the maze available to even more students. "While I have been aware of domestic violence all my life," she wrote, "until I was hired for this position, I was not aware of all the dynamics that go with it and all the lives it touches. It is very important to me to bring knowledge and information to the young people to help them to realize there is help and they do not have to accept this as a way of life."

To participate in the maze, each teen is given a scenario that tells them what they are doing at the start of the maze… scenarios like engaging in unprotected sex, using drugs or alcohol or joining a gang. Based on the their choices, the teens then visit various booths staffed by adults which might include a mock jail or a funeral of a friend who overdosed. In one example, a girl learns she is pregnant and then realizes the consequences. Making the wrong choice, a teen might get a 10-month jail sentence (actually 10 minutes) for DUI, including handcuffs. Many teens say that after experiencing the maze, they will make better choices in real life.

Diary Starts Here

January 25th, 2010
Things are moving along. The maze equipment has been ordered and should be arriving soon. It looks like there are no photos from Shelly's surprise call but she did write to say how much she appreciates this. Once the maze is up, we hope to have some pictures for everyone. Stay tuned!

January 7th, 2010
It was 23 below zero with a wind chill of 40 below in Bottineau when I surprised Shelly with a phone call. Dena Filler, the executive director of the crisis center helped set up a “meeting” so that everyone could share in the good news. There were board members and staff there as well as a newspaper reporter. Everyone applauded for Shelly and she went on to explain to me how the maze would work. She said they write up scenarios that the teens will experience and afterwards they do evaluations. I was surprised to know that the stations are manned by real sheriffs, district judges, states attorneys, and homeless coalition. These people all volunteer their time to help. Shelly sounded really excited over the phone and I look forward to hearing about the progress of her teen maze.