Deputies, LVUSD educate parents on kids’ drug use

By Lori Porter Acorn Staff Writer

Las Virgenes Unified School District and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department co-hosted a parents’ education night recently on teenage drug and alcohol abuse. The program shared information about STAR (Success Through Awareness and Resistance), the sheriff’s department’s drug intervention program. The event at Westlake Village City Hall was titled "What’s Happening to our Youth?"

Parents seemed to be asking the same question because the council chambers were packed.

Attendees learned about the prevalence of teenage drug and alcohol abuse, including the startling statistic that one of five eighth-graders has tried marijuana.

Parents were handed an index card and pencil as they entered so they could pose questions for the panel. It included Dep. Dave Bates from the sheriff’s department’s narcotics bureau; Dep. Bob Amstutz of the STAR program; Dr. Ian Armstrong, a neurosurgeon; Pia Jacoby, a certified chemical dependency counselor; and her son, Michaelis Jacoby, a recovering addict.

Also included on the panel were Dottie Berntson, the parent facilitator, and Randi Klein, the student representative from LVUSD’s Choices program, which provides students with alternatives to expulsion when they’re caught using drugs or alcohol at school or at a school-sponsored event. Also participating was Jim Nielsen, director of secondary education for LVUSD.

Bates said that STAR, an eight-month program that educates fourth-grade students on "gateway" drugs (such as cigarettes and marijuana), teaches kids about the consequences of abuse. STAR also helps give youngsters the tools to make wise decisions and establish strong values, Bates said.

Amstutz, a 20-year veteran of the sheriff’s department, said that the two deputies consider themselves to be "schoolteachers with a gun" because they work with kids in classrooms every day. It was good to see so many fathers present, Amstutz said, since it’s usually the moms who attend.

Jacoby talked about her son. He started out as a nearly perfect student and was involved in many activities, she said. Unfortunately, one of those activities was drug abuse when he was only 10 years old.

Today Jacoby is a licensed certified substance abuse counselor, but years ago––when her son was at home and using––she said she was the "queen of denial." She talked at length about the power of denial and how it not only keeps parents from seeing a child’s drug problem, it allows the drug abuse to continue.

Michaelis said he’s been sober for four years and is married with one child. He’s manager of a drug rehab center in Century City and is doing well.

Michaelis finally got clean in jail, he said, after he asked himself how he got there.

Could his parents or teachers have done anything to stop him from using drugs, he was asked. "No," he answered, "I’m the type that would have found it anyway." His advice to parents? "Make it difficult for your kids to get drugs and alcohol. Don’t make it easy by giving them money. And don’t have alcohol in your homes."

Parents asked the panel various questions including whether or not alcoholism is hereditary, and if so, what can be done about it?

Armstrong, the neurosurgeon, warned parents that alcoholism can have a genetic connection. The best deterrent, he said, is to establish a "no tolerance" policy in the home, making sure there’s no alcohol to tempt a teenager. Early education is also important, Armstrong said.

Berntson recommended that parents look at alcoholism for what it is—a disease. "This will help you deal with it as something genetic like diabetes and take away the shame that’s often attached to alcoholism."

Kids in middle and high school are simply trying to figure out who they are, but their parents must be strong. Parents should say "no" if a teenager asks to go to a party or to someone’s home, if the host is a stranger.

Allowing kids to drink at home is a major mistake. "Making it available is one reason kids are using," said Amstutz.

When one parent asked if it’s okay to eavesdrop on children, Amstutz answered that if parents are suspicious that their kids are using drugs or alcohol, it’s wise to be aware. "Unlike a deputy, parents can search a room without a search warrant," Amstutz said.

"Eavesdropping is okay. It’s called parenting."

Nielsen told parents the school district is doing all it can. Teachers and administrators aren’t hiding their heads in the sand about drugs and alcohol, he said.

Agoura High School principal Larry Misel concurred. "We are attacking the problem at every level. We talk to kids about all the choices they make, not just the ones involving drug and alcohol use."

Teaching young people to recognize the difference between right and wrong in all areas of their lives is a priority, Misel said.

Choices, an innovative program in Las Virgenes schools, caught the attention of White House cabinet member John Walters. He visited LVUSD earlier this month to learn more about it.

Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station also conducts an intervention program through its "J" team (J stands for juvenile). The "J" team is comprised of deputies who are summoned when drug or alcohol abuse is reported by the school district.

Once a report is filed, the "J" team investigates and tries to stay in contact with the student.