‘Is Your Teen at Risk?’ event presents adults with challenges and struggles on the minds of adolescents.
By JOHN CRANDALL
The Orange County Register
RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA – Online videos detailing how to create hallucinogens, Web sites enabling sexual predators to snare victims and cell phones acting as inventory lists to keep track of drug sales.
These were just some of the dangers that parents and adolescents learned about at the “Is Your Teen at Risk?” forum at the Bell Tower Regional Community Center.
“Nowadays kids are pulled in so many ways, and there’s so much peer pressure,” said Tasha Schilling, an education specialist for the Orange County Fire Authority.
The forum showcased information from a number of different government organizations including the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, the Orange County Fire Authority and the California Highway Patrol.
Tables and booths held information for parents including brochures for treatment centers for adolescents struggling with addiction or pamphlets with advice for parents on how to determine if their children are using drugs.
Coto de Caza resident Megan Melsheimer, 19, who attended, said she started drinking and using drugs when she was in sixth grade. Now, she’s almost three years sober and says that she goes to events like this one to help show that young kids can get addicted and that they can get help.
“It doesn’t just happen to a certain type of person,” Melsheimer said. “It can happen to anybody.”
At about 6:30 p.m., a number of speakers – including Rancho Mayor Neil Blais, parents who lost a child to a drug overdose, a former alcoholic and law enforcement and emergency services officers spoke to attendees about challenges facing the modern teen. According to sheriff’s estimates about 375 people attended.
Among the topics discussed:
Rancho Santa Margarita is a good neighborhood that still suffers from teen drug problems, according to Deputy Lance Christensen, an Orange County Sheriff’s Department school resource officer.
He also spoke about some of the narcotic trends occurring on local campuses and showed Youtube videos that display how to make drugs from store-bought chemicals. He said that parents should know what teens are using their phones for, as some have used them to record drug sales or establish narcotics deals.
California Highway Patrol Officer Chris Goodwin spoke about the importance of using care while driving.
“The leading cause of death for kids between 15 and 20 is motor vehicle collisions,” Goodwin said. “We take driving very, very seriously.”
OCFA Battalion Chief Scott Brown talked about the dangers of street racing, especially on Live Oak Canyon Road in the canyons.
He said that many teens have died on that road. “We consider that our ‘blood alley’,” Brown said.
Jeff Brown, an investigator for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, spoke about ways for parents to protect their kids from online predators as well as possible danger in their neighborhoods. He said that parents should know who their children are talking to, both on the internet and in life.
Deputy Josh Money, part of the OCSD’s high tech crimes unit, showed parents some of the basics of internet social networking sites that many kids use, including Myspace, Facebook and Twitter.
For more information about the program, visit www.isyourteenatrisk.org.
Contact the writer: 949-454-7308 or jcrandall@ocregister.com
Parenting style influences teen drinking patterns, researchers say some parents assume that teenagers will drink alcohol and there is little they can do to prevent it. Research does indicate that parenting has little effect on whether kids decide to try alcohol. But parenting attitudes and actions can make a big difference in how much and how often a teenager drinks.
