OXNARD : Teen-Agers Learn to Help Each Other

Her boyfriend was a perfect gentleman when her parents were around. They adored him. But once when she was alone with him, he raped her.

The young woman’s story was one of many shared at a workshop on preventing date rape, held at a recent conference for students who are peer helpers in the Oxnard Union High School District.

Pam Ammerman, program director of the Rape and Sexual Abuse Center of Ventura County, led the discussion.

“If you feel your friend is being inappropriate by saying crude sexual remarks, or making you sick because of how he talks about women . . . pay attention. Respect your own feelings, because that is the No. 1 safety precaution as far as date rape prevention,” Ammerman said.

Hers was one of 15 workshops at the fifth annual conference at Camp Ramah in Ojai. The 270 who attended are teen-agers to whom other students turn with their problems, said Christine Smith, director of student services for the school district.

The peer helpers listen to fellow students’ problems with weight management, alcohol, pregnancy, parents and sexuality.

“They are given training in personal social skills, communication skills and referral skills so they don’t take on problems of others, but they know the resources in the school and the community,” Smith said.

The teen-agers participated in skits about sexual decision-making, heard talks about AIDS and discussed alternatives to drinking and taking drugs.