Arindum Nayak addresses students regarding his campaign at a school in Bhubaneswar. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, Nov. 17: A group of sprightly teenagers are touring city schools to sensitise their peers about laws concerning minors and help some of them get back on track.

Disturbed by a spurt in juvenile crimes across the country Arindum Nayak, a Class XI commerce student of Mother’s Public School here, has conceptualised the initiative called Just Juvenile, which is gradually taking the shape of a movement.

“I had always wanted to be a part of something greater than my own self,” said Arindum, who won the south-Asian finals of Horlicks Wizkids recently held in Bangalore for this very project.

With this, he has been selected for an educational trip to Germany along with a cash award of Rs 1 lakh.

Arindum came up with this idea after being prodded to undertake a community project to be presented before a large audience at the Wizkids finale that attracted participation from several south Asian countries.

Inspired by the popular television show Gumrah that deals with teenage crimes, he approached some of his friends to help him execute the idea.

“We have been researching on the rise of crime among juveniles, causes, consequences and how to prevent this rising trend through active participation of the society,” the 14-year-old said.

“In short, we want to help lost teenagers find their way,” he added.

Arindum and friends started the movement with presentations and surveys at their own school nearly two months ago and created a blog-cum-website — www.justjuvenile.wordpress.com — to reach out to juvenile delinquents by connecting them with mentors for guidance.

This bunch of inspired teenagers now intend to launch a toll-free helpline number through which distressed teenagers can directly apply for help and guidance on almost every problem faced by them.

Apart from this, they also plan to carry out surveys in the city’s slums and film a documentary video on the problems faced by juveniles.

“This is a cause that affects the life of every teenager, delinquent or otherwise,” said Devi Prasad, a student of Loyola School, who has volunteered to help spread the message at his school level.

Arindum’s teachers are also all praise for him.

“He is a very talented. He is a winner because he thinks out-of-the-box and goes the extra mile to achieve his goals. He is a team player and keeps himself up-to-date with current affairs,” said his mentor Latika Pratap.

Academics apart, he is also good at extra-curricular activities. “Academic pressure is just a state of mind. When you are driven by passion to do something good, the boundaries of time and other constraints simply disappear,” he said.