A sheriff’s deputy reaches local youth through a program that educates children about the dangers of alcohol and drugs, and how to deal with negative influences.
By Rachelle Kuchta/Special to The Malibu Times
The Malibu Kiwanis Club is pitching in to help educate local youth about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse, as well as how to deal with peer pressure and other challenges in growing up.
The club will give a $9,000 donation to the STAR (Success Through Awareness & Resistance) program tonight.
For four years, L.A. County Sheriff’s Deputy Bob Amstutz-better known as simply Deputy Bob-has been visiting fourth- and fifth-graders in Malibu schools through STAR. Now, he will be able to expand it to the sixth, seventh and eighth grades at Malibu High School to further impact the students’ decisions as they grow into young adults.
Webster Elementary School Principal Phil Cott said he’s been hoping there would be a way for Deputy Bob to visit the middle school students because he feels those years are where they need the most help.
Cott said his fourth- and fifth-graders are “absolutely sincere about being against drugs and alcohol.”
The pressure is more intense as the students get older, Cott commented.
“I think the program will give a lot of kids the strength to stay on the right path,” Cott added.
“The idea is that we get to grow up with the kids, and as they mature through the years the topics we discuss change and are appropriate for the ages,” said Deputy Bob, who has been with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for 19 years. “It gives them some realistic information,” he said, and “it equips them to deal with situations that may come up.”
The STAR Unit started in 1985 and is run by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The program provides drug-, gang- and violence-prevention programs to more than 214 schools within 31 school districts in 27 cities and the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. STAR deputies reach approximately 60,000 students each month.
Deputy Bob said he meets with each of his classes once a month, in schools in Malibu, Calabasas, Hidden Hills and Topanga.
Webster, Point Dume and Juan Cabrillo elementary schools, Our Lady of Malibu, the Odyssey program and now Malibu High are the schools Deputy Bob visits.
The Kiwanis Club started working with Deputy Bob and the STAR program at the club’s annual Chili Cook-Off festival and carnival last Labor Day weekend, where STAR had an information booth, a Moon Bounce and obstacle course to raise money.
Former Malibu Kiwanis Club President Lisajo McGee said she chose to sponsor STAR because she never had the opportunity to learn about the dangers of drugs and alcohol while growing up in Malibu.
McGee is currently the Kiwanis’ division lieutenant governor for the California, Nevada and Hawaii district.
“I learned the hard way,” said McGee, who said she saw her sister’s friends die in the ’70s at the ages of 16 and 18 from drugs and peer pressure in Malibu.
After watching Deputy Bob and the children interact at the Cook-Off, McGee said, “I was hooked.”
“This was definitely something I wanted to get involved with,” she added.
McGee said Deputy Bob suggested the Kiwanis sponsor one class.
“But I didn’t think that was enough,” she said.
“I want all our students to have this wonderful opportunity to learn about what being a bully can do to a young student, the effects of peer pressure and let’s not forget the problems because of drugs and alcohol,” McGee said.
According to a STAR fact sheet, through the program children are taught by using proven prevention techniques to deal with peer pressure, decision-making skills, refusal skills, conflict resolution, anger management, cultural awareness and building self-esteem, in addition to receiving information about drugs and the dangers associated with gang involvement.
During a recent visit to an eighth-grade class, the Malibu High science class students appeared comfortable with the officer and posed several questions to him, including: “Do you bring a gun home and put it under your pillow? Have you ever had to go on a pursuit? What’s the drug that makes you not feel anything?”
Juan Cabrillo Elementary Principal Pat Cairns said she thinks that students often feel freer in asking Deputy Bob questions they wouldn’t ask a parent.
“He has tremendous subject knowledge coupled with a wonderful rapport with children,” Cairns said.
After addressing all of the eighth-grade students’ inquiries, Deputy Bob presented a video to the class, “The Teen Files: The Truth About Drugs,” where San Diego teens were faced with fake scenarios with circumstances such as being arrested for drug possession and being raped while on the drug Ecstasy.
The film also discussed huffing, which is using household inhalants as drugs, homeless teens and heroine-addicted babies.
Cairns said she thinks it’s a great program for the elementary schools because, she said, “they’re all going to the middle school with common knowledge and solid knowledge from a professional.”
Deputy Bob, who has three children at the ages of 4, 6 and 9, said he enjoys getting “to be a positive role model and help guide them through their growing up years.”
Malibu Community Center Executive Director Nidra Winger, who is a strong supporter of the program, said she feels the children just have a better sense of self-awareness because of its influence.
“That turns them into better community members and better volunteers,” Winger said.
Although this donation is only for this year, McGee said she hopes the Kiwanis Club will be able to make this an annual donation.
But McGee is optimistic.
“My hand is already up for next year’s vote,” she said.
The club will present their donation to Deputy Bob and the STAR program tonight at the club’s weekly meeting at 7 p.m. at Guido’s Restaurant, 3874 Cross Creek Road.