Gil and Flo Mulhere saw their oldest son Timothy, a Marine, off to war in Iraq in February 2003 and they understandably feared for his safety.

They soon found out that their 17-year old son Kevin was also in danger. He was found dead of a drug overdose the day after his brother went to war.

Teens face all kinds of dangers in school, on the road and even at home and Department personnel are pitching in to help parents protect their teens. 

More than 200 parents and teens last Thursday attended a program at Tesoro High School in unincorporated Rancho Santa Margarita. It was titled “Is Your Teen At Risk, what every parent needs to know.”

The turnout at Tesoro was the fourth put on by the Department in cooperation with local schools. Two earlier presentations were put on in Rancho Santa Margarita and a another at Capistrano Valley High School. The next is planned for the Columbus Tustin Activities Center in Tustin on February 26.

Lt. William Griffin helped organized the program and moderated the speakers. He told the audience that he and his wife have two boys in high school, one a senior and the other a freshman.

“Nothing is more important that protecting your children,” Lt. Griffin told the audience.

He announced that if any parents or teens were in crisis they had resources in the building prepared to help.  Outside the auditorium there were more than two dozen tables set up by organizations with resources to help teens at risk. Some provided drug abuse treatment; others provided help for road and Internet safety. 

The Mulhere’s led the program with the story of their tragic experience with Kevin.  Timothy made it back from Iraq and was recently sworn in as a deputy district attorney in Riverside.

Drugs are dangers that face all parents, the still grieving couple warned.

That message was expanded upon by Deputies Lance Christensen and Jeff Puckett.   Christensen, school resource officer at Tesoro, told the parents about some of the drugs and paraphernalia he has confiscated at the school, most recently that afternoon. He had a table outside the auditorium stacked with paraphernalia he had taken from students.

Deputy Jeff Puckett offered to meet any parent outside in the display table room and teach them how to check out their own teens to see if they are using drugs.

School violence is another problem facing teens these days and Sergeant Brad Virgoe told the parents how the Department’s School Mobile Assessment Resource Team (SMART) tries to get help for students who may be showing signs of being violent. He also showed them pictures of an array of replica weapons taken from the room of a student. He said there were about 100 weapons a year confiscated at local schools.  He is with the SMART team, formed after Columbine to join law enforcement and mental health professionals to head off a repeat of the Colorado massacre.

 “We want to know the kids who pose a threat,” Sergeant Virgoe said.

Reserve Deputy Josh Money gave a talk on the dangers teens face on the Internet. He advised the parents to place their youngster’s computer in place in the house where the parents and others pass by frequently. He warned against allowing youngsters to have their computer set up where they are isolated. Parental monitoring is important to protect youngsters against bullies and predators.

The roadway presents one of the biggest dangers to local teens and CHP Officer Chris Goodwin joined Deputy Will Funk, Orange County Fire Authority Battalion Chief Scott Brown in telling the audience about the laws governing teen driving and the places where they face the most danger. Numerous fatalities have occurred along Live Oak Canyon Road, a place where teens too often go to race each other.

The last speaker was Dr. David Sabet. He presented a slide show on the life of his 17-year old daughter Gillian Sabet. He told the audience how he lost her in an traffic accident while she was bound  to her junior prom with her boyfriend Jonathan Schulte and some mutual friends. The car was overcrowded and Gillian did not wear a seat belt. The youngsters involved were not drinkers and didn’t do drugs. It was minor things that added up to the tragedy, an overcrowded car, Gillian did not wear a seat belt and the driver was distracted and lost control.

 “Parents worry about drugs and gang violence and they should,” said Dr. Sabet. “Teen drivers are responsible for more teen deaths than either of those causes.”

For more information on Gil and Flo Mulhere’s http://www.calyouthservices.org/
For more information about Gillian Sabet see http://www.journeysafe.com/
For more information about the CHP “Start Smart” teen driving education see www.chp.ca.gov/community/startsmart.html
For more information about the PRYDE program see http://gsep.pepperdine.edu/welcome/pryde/
For more information about the programs offered by Orange County Sheriff’s Department see http://www.ocsd.org/