St. Bernard deputies speak to students about the dangers of cyberbullying and using drugs and alcohol

Several deputies with the St. Bernard Sheriff’s Office are facilitating talks with St. Bernard Parish middle and high school students about the dangers of using social media, as well as the risks involved with the consumption of drugs and alcohol, Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

During the lectures, which are being held at Andrew Jackson, N.P. Trist and St. Bernard middle schools, Lynn Oaks School and Chalmette High School, Capt. Mark Jackson, Lt. Michelle Canepa, Det. Donald Shreve and Det. Joe Warren are being accompanied by an agent from Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry’s Bureau of Investigations Cyber Crime Unit.

Students in sixth through ninth grades are being educated on the risks involved with cyberbullying or using technology to harass, threaten, embarrass or target another person. Students are being provided with valuable information on how to recognize cyberbullying, as well as advice on how to respond to certain situations that may arise.

Sheriff Pohlmann also is visiting with students to warn them of the dangers associated with the use of drugs and alcohol.

Charles Cassar, cultural arts program coordinator for the St. Bernard Parish Public School System, is speaking to students about how drugs and alcohol can affect their brain development and lead them down the wrong path.

During a recent lecture at N.P. Trist Middle School in Meraux, Cassar brought with him a group of Chalmette High School sophomores, many of whom are former Trist students, who performed a skit they wrote and developed to sixth through eighth graders, warning them about making the right choices and not giving into peer pressure.

For more information about cyberbullying, or to organize an educational talk, contact the St. Bernard Sheriff’s Office juvenile division at (504) 278-7749, or Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry’s Investigations Division at (225) 326-6100.