By Taylor Kelley
News Editor
On March 6, Cyber Safety Cop hosted a presentation on vaping, marijuana and fentanyl
for Manhattan Beach Unified School District (MBUSD) parents in Costa’s small theater.
According to the Cyber Safety Cop website, the organization’s mission is to deliver engaging
presentations to empower all of society to build a secure environment for communities. The
event was helpful for its information on commonly abused drugs but was not well-advertised for
parents, causing attendance to be low and reducing the potential for change in teenage drug
use.
Speaker Carlos Sanchez, a Southern California law enforcement agent who served as a
school resource officer and a Special Victims Unit detective, led the event. Sanchez covered
teenage use of drugs, their effects, and falsified ideas associated with these drugs.
The presentation provided numerous facts relative to teenage drug use and was very
informative due to the use of engaging videos. According to Sanchez, even though something is
legal, that doesn’t mean it is unassailable or healthy. Marijuana slows brain development, and
when teenagers repeatedly use it, it can greatly affect their memory and function issues.
Mentioning this study shows that early use can hurt brain development and cause long-term
memory loss. The presentation excelled in conveying the message of preventing teenage drug
use to parents in attendance.
The presentation proved to be effective as the topics discussed are timely to the
community. On Sept. 13, 2022, Bernstein High School student Melanie Ramos overdosed on
pills laced with fentanyl in a school bathroom. Her death followed other teenage overdoses in
Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) schools. This issue is prominent in communities
nearby, and the information Cyber Safety Cop shared could save lives.
The district has provided numerous resources to parents, according to mbusd.org.
However, this information is not translated to every student and, thus, is not helpful. While all
this information is important for parents to remain knowledgeable about preventing drug use, the
event’s lack of promotion affected attendance, and, therefore, awareness. The event should
have been advertised much more to parents by the Costa administration.
Costa’s administration responded by saying that the event was promoted through
district-wide emails, counselors, and newsletters. Administration says it is working to get more
people at events through large assemblies, webinars, and recordings, although this event was
not recorded due to copyright issues. College and Career Counselor Teby Wammack believes
that attendance was low due to parents’ personal beliefs on whether or not the event topic is
relevant to their children. Though a valid point, the event suffered due to the lack of parental
awareness of how prevalent teenage drug use is.
Overall, the Cyber Safety Cop presentation was worthwhile in regards to its details on
commonly used drugs and attempts at reducing overdoses, but was not well-promoted, causing
both participation and awareness to be low, potentially resulting in no prominent change in
teenage drug use.
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