By ROB KUZNIA
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
When 10 parents complained last year that older students were offering alcohol and cigarettes to Goleta Valley Junior High kids at the Camino Real Shopping Center, Principal Paul Turnbull did a little reconnaissance work.
He went to the movies at the center and then to Starbucks. And he came up with an idea he hopes will help curb the problem: He persuaded some merchants to post signs on windows and bulletin boards indicating they are "safe houses" for adolescents who find themselves in uncomfortable situations.
Though he hasn't heard of kids needing a safe place to turn to
this
year, there have been no reports of any alcohol- or drug-related
incidents near the center either.
With its movie theater, coffee houses, restaurants and drug stores that sell liquor, the center at Hollister Avenue and Storke Road is a convergence point for students of all ages.
While the idea of dropping off one's middle school-aged child at the center with friends for a movie and ice cream seems innocent enough, Mr. Turnbull said it could lead to trouble.
The theater and shops are "very close to a bunch of places that sell alcohol and cigarettes," he said.
"Junior high school kids are the only ones who can't go in their cars and leave when they are uncomfortable."
STEVE
MALONE/NEWS-PRESS
Anthony Estrada, sales manager at Sundance Beach surf shop,
speaks with Mr. Turnbull about posting a sign in his window.
Mr. Turnbull said he isn't sure of the motives behind the encounters between the younger and older kids.
"It could run the gamut from just being idiots not meaning any harm to a pretty focused goal of taking advantage of somebody," he said.
Mr. Turnbull decided to take action after a mother came to him last year in tears about her daughter, a victim of alcohol poisoning. The family has since moved away.
That's when the principal turned sleuth, observing for himself what was going on at the center.
"About 90 percent of the stuff was just junior high school kids and high school kids being kids, lots of energy," he said. "I saw some stuff that looked a little suspicious, too."
He thought of the safe house idea and started talking to people in positions of authority: the Goleta police chief, the Goleta Chamber of Commerce, the owner of the Camino Real Shopping Center. They endorsed his idea.
He crafted a simple poster -- one that is instantly recognizable to a Goleta Valley student.
It includes the logos of the school's four "houses," or teams -- the Pirates, Buccaneers, Golden Vikings and Sea Monkeys -- into which the school's 916 students are divided, much like the ones featured in the "Harry Potter" movies. (It's an idea Mr. Turnbull brought from his native Canada.)
Administrators told the kids about the posters in classrooms and at an assembly at the beginning of the school year.
So far just a few businesses have put them up: Sundance Beach surf shop, Borders books, Blenders In the Grass and Cold Stone Creamery.
Mike Briggs of Cold Stone -- a national chain of ice cream shops -- asked Mr. Turnbull for a poster even though the corporate office generally frowns on such adornments.
"Most stores don't let the kids quote 'loiter," he said. "We don't mind at all."