At the Fifth Annual Teen Maze event at the Montezuma County Fairgrounds on March 2 and 3, over 600 teenage students navigated a giant maze that presented them with real-life situations and the consequences of how they handled them, the Cortez Journal reported on March 4.

Teens began the maze by spinning a job wheel and receiving different amounts of fake money according to their selected career and position. Then, the participants wound their way through different life decision rooms, paying out of their salary for their harmful choices along the way. The rooms each addressed difficult issues such as abstinence, peer pressure, tobacco use and substance use.

The peer pressure room required students to dodge hanging objects which were inscribed with potentially convincing statements tempting them towards risky behavior. In the tobacco room, teens rolled dice to determine the severity of their fictitious habit and how much they would have to pay for it. Another room addressed the dangers of methamphetamine use, featuring before and after photographs of meth users and a coffin filled with products typically used to make the drug.

"It's important we use this as a preventative education tool," said Amy Fair, coordinator of the Teen Maze. The message seemed to have sunk in for some young participants.

"I didn't know that [harmful] stuff can happen to you," said one seventh-grade student. "One little mistake, and your life could be ruined."