by Marty Brown
Northern News Services

NNSL (Feb 10/97) - The suicide rate for Northern teenagers is two-and-a-half times the national average.

So the producers of "Live" & Well, the monthly teen show that airs on TVNC, are tackling the subject.

The two-hour show starts with a video by Fort Smith drama students, Facing the Pain.

Producer Valerie Conrad said that the main focus of the evening is to help teenagers recognize how stressful, even painful, problems in life are commonly shared by peers and that even thinking about suicide is common.

"The only way to grow and feel good about problems is to conquer them and face the pain."

Three people who are closely related to the subject in one way or another, Baker Lake's Hilu Scottie,

Fort Smith's Noel Plamondon and Yellowknife's Gary Adkins will make up a panel, discussing the subject and answering questions from the phone in section of the show.

They join hosts Michael Akitteq from Igloolik and Yellowknife's Peggy Holroyd in bringing suicide out of the closet and talking about it.

Like many people in Nunavut, Akitteq has lost a friend to suicide and said that "it's important for people to be able to discuss sensitive issues. Traditionally Inuit do not discuss their emotional problems ... but it is no longer easy to just forget emotional problems."

Callers speaking French, English and Inuktitut can call in during the program

"Live & Well presents: Facing the Pain: Suicide Prevention for teens Feb. 12 at 8:30 MT on TVNC.