Unlucky children had to be turned away from the second day of the Youth to Youth conference.

More than 150 youngsters arrived for the second day of an anti-drug and positive outlook programme on Thursday.

While clearly pleased with the turnout, Youth to Youth director Judith Burgess acknowledged that it was unfortunate to send away interested children.

But she explained that Thursday's conference was different from their annual summer gathering.

Thursday's Club PRIDE Conference, Mrs. Burgess said, relied mostly on the teenage members of the Youth-to-Youth organisation to conduct the various workshops.

Mrs. Burgess told The Royal Gazette she had to "call out the reserve members'' to handle the unexpectedly large number of children, but believed it would have been unfair to overwhelm her volunteers.

The two-day Club PRIDE Conference was created to target the Island's new middle school student population.

On Wednesday, students from west end schools were invited while Thursday's participants hailed from the eastern parishes.

With interactive role playing and instructional stories, visiting motivational speaker Sister Mama Sonya's address was a favourite among the students.

"I like her,'' said 12-year-old Charmaine Landy.

"She told us the Turtle story and about not poking into other people's business.'' Anuli Roberts echoed Charmaine's enthusiasm and said she learned "never to judge a another person by their looks'' from another of Sister Mama's stories.

Chantelle Daniels enjoyed the Snack-a-Rama workshop.

"It was fun and we learned a lot about how to make snacks,'' she said.

Magic Boyles, a ten-year-old Dellwood student who took part in the Boys to Men workshop, said he "learned how to become a man''.

"We have to take care of our responsibilities like our family and ourselves,'' he asserted.

Youth to Youth member, 16-year-old Carla Govia, conducted a relaxation workshop.

"They really need it because young people these days are so hyper,'' she said.

Four officers from the Bermuda Police REACH Programme also assisted in Thursday's event.