The questions teenagers have never had the chance to ask

Press, 1 June 1989, Page 15

The questions teenagers have never had the chance to ask

Gabrielle Huria now knows it is possible to live on a diet of baked beans, and nothing but baked beans, for a month ...

"not that it’s recommended practice to rely on just the one food source,” she says, “and besides you’d probably get sick to death of beans after about two or three days.” This dietary wisdom is just a fraction of the knowledge Huria has acquired since taking on the role of researcher for TVNZ’s new Sunday show “L.1.F.E.” ("Life in the Fridge Exists” Sunday evenings on Two). It is part of the 26-year-old’s brief to find out just what it is teenagers have always wanted to know, but never before had the chance to ask. These questions and answers go into the Dr Watt segment of the show. And it seems the country’s young people want to know all there is to know about sexually tansmitted diseases, A.1.D.5., death and the grieving process, stress and how to cope

with it, body building and the prevention of bad breath. Huria says questions asked run along the following lines ... “Will everyone’s heart eventually pump out if they keep on living; why don’t humans grow more than two sets of teeth; if a baby opens its mouth inside the womb will it

choke; if everyone has something wrong with them how do we know what’s normal; how long does it take to become like Arnold Schwazzenegger, and if you have a good dream how can you get it back ... a sort of dial up a fantasy?” Huria also has responsibility for running “L.I.F.E.’s” band of "Paint the Town Red” reporters — young people up to the age of 22, discovered during a two-week audition tour of the country. “I’ve sent all these reporters information on how to write a TV story, an example of a pacy, three-minute feature, and told them what facilities are available for them to use. I select the stories which are suitable and decide where the film crew should go. “And story ideas to date cover a huge range of topics. A girl in Auckland wants to show the positive side of a maximum security prison; a guy in Christchurch wants to do a story on parapenting, an activity which involves

running off high hills with a parachute; another girl wants to cover a skateboarding controversy in Auckland ... young kids are lobbying for a skateboard ramp ...; and a Canterbury university student wants to report on the Government’s plans to make university education user-pays.” Another important, and, she doesn’t mind admitting, enjoyable element of Huria’s job, is keeping in touch with the teen-age scene. “I go to all the concerts, hang around the pubs, and visit the nightclubs to see what young people are doing. As well I keep up with the music and fashion trends. And I constantly check back with studen at Wellington secondary schools to make sure ‘L.I.F.E.’ stays on the right track.” To take the job with “L.1.F.E.” Huria had to move to Wellington from Christchurch, leaving behind her man, her house and two cats.

“I’ve got a block booking on Thrifty,” she says.