High school sophomores from Chattooga County are joining students from across Northwest Georgia this week for an interactive program designed to show teenagers how the choices they make today can have lasting consequences.

The 13th Annual “UR Choice, UR Destiny” Teen Maze is being held this week at the Catoosa Colonnade, with the event running Monday through Friday, September 14-18.

Nearly 1,600 sophomores from eight high schools in Chattooga, Walker, Dade and Catoosa counties are expected to participate in this year’s program.

Teen Maze is different from a traditional classroom presentation. Students make their way through a life-sized maze containing realistic scenarios involving situations teenagers may encounter in their everyday lives.

Topics addressed during the program include drinking and driving, texting while driving, substance use, peer pressure, bullying, mental health, teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and suicide prevention.

As students progress through the maze, the scenarios demonstrate how a single decision can lead to other consequences. Organizers say the goal is not simply to tell teenagers what choices to make, but to give them an opportunity to see how decisions can affect their health, safety, education, relationships and future.

The annual program brings together schools and community partners from the four-county area and relies heavily on volunteers to help create and operate the different scenarios.

Organizers say students completing Teen Maze should leave with a better understanding that seemingly small decisions can have long-term consequences and that the choices they make now can influence the direction of their lives.

The 13th Annual Teen Maze continues through Friday at the Catoosa Colonnade.