Opinion: Youth Corner: A strong foundation for supporting youth
Published 1:30 am Thursday, May 7, 2026
There’s an old movie about a group of young hockey players called the Mighty Ducks. It was pretty successful thirty-ish years ago. So much so that it spun off several sequels. In the second one, our heroes face off against a formidable foreign enemy from one of those cold, calculating, robotic European nations where all the hockey players dress in black.
Iceland.
That always made me laugh. Like, how’d Disney pick Iceland as the face of evil hockey players everywhere? In the movie the tween Icelanders are heartless and mean and more like hockey soldiers than 12-year-old kids. Geo-thermal springs and monstrous peewee hockey players. For a long time that was my perception of Iceland.
But Iceland, like many other rural, isolated places, had its share of problems that the Mighty Ducks never touched on. So Iceland made a move to combat the rising rates of youth crime, substance use and mental health issues.
Thirty years later, they are no longer exporting evil tween hockey villains. They are teaching the world of the importance of building healthy communities by committing to the well-being of the youth.
South Peninsula Behavioral Health Services is excited to be partnering with the SKP Resilience Coalition and a collaboration of individuals and organizations across the greater Homer Area to replicate the Icelandic Prevention Model (IPM) in our community. This is the work of Planet Youth Homer.
Many partners from that coalition have been popping up around town at various events (from the high school to the chamber) sharing the information and data that the partners of Planet Youth Homer collected. This will inform the goals and objectives for our community. In turn, these goals and objectives will direct our efforts to improve the overall wellness of our community over the next 15-20 years.
This is not a band-aid approach. Not a “quick fix” and on to the next thing. This is a years long commitment from a community to come together and recognize that creating healthy youth creates a healthy Homer. That strengthening our supports and activities and resources for the youth of the southern peninsula is an investment in the future that improves long-term wellness outcomes for individuals. Not just from a medical standpoint, but for emotional, spiritual, environmental and financial outcomes as well.
In the initial survey, we found there are many things we are doing well as a community. Low reported substance use, engaged families and out of school activities were some of the positives. All of which will be important in helping us build on our community strengths.
But of concern were the responses from the youth about several topics. Some of which are mental health and wellbeing; sleep, fatigue and related routines; and screen time. Per their reporting affordable or free “hang-out” spaces, safe “hang-out” spaces, and opportunities to connect with peers (especially for people new to town) were high on their list of areas for community improvement.
None of that happens overnight.
If you are interested in learning more about the efforts underway, feel free to reach out to Youth Project Manager Anna Meredith (planetyouthhomer.org), and she can schedule a more in-depth presentation for your organization. The more individuals and organizations we have participating in this work of building a healthy community, the better.
In a previous “Youth Corner” article, Ginny Espenshade referenced all the good work the Booster Club has done for our community. Joe Ravin cited the Boys and Girls Club. And there are countless more initiatives happening all the time. Homer has a strong foundation for supporting and helping our youth.
Like the Mighty Ducks and their infamous knuckle puck, let’s see how we can make it better.
Jay Bechtol is the CEO at South Peninsula Behavioral Health Service (The Center) and clearly watches too many Disney movies.