THOUSAND OAKS : Youths Write Video Script to Warn Peers

As his van wound through the remote, rocky canyon on the western fringe of Thousand Oaks, 18-year-old Aristotle Alvarez began to sweat. What, he thought, had his probation officer gotten him into?

Why had he volunteered to spend four days cooped up on this distant ranch, surrounded by eerie, fire-scorched mountains? Why had he promised to work long hours for just a token stipend of $25 a day?

Within a few hours, Aristotle answered his own questions.

He was there to help other youths avoid the troubles he had encountered growing up in North Hollywood. He was there to learn, and to teach. He was there to make a difference.

And so were the other seven teen-agers who joined him at the Carlisle Canyon ranch last week.

Funded by a $10,000 federal grant, the students spent four days writing a script for a half-hour video aimed at teaching their peers to stay away from drugs and protect themselves from AIDS.

Their hosts, film industry veterans Clifford and Carol Lynn Wegner, have been running similar programs for the past three years.

They have helped about 70 at-risk teen-agers write and produce educational videos.

But this particular project marked the first time the Wegners had received money--and explicit instructions--from government agencies.

California’s Office on AIDS, Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs, and Department of Education had teamed up to commission a video linking drug use and infection with the HIV virus. And they wanted the film to be produced by kids.

“This project has really validated what we know from research,” video coordinator John Elfers said.

“If you want to reach kids, the best way is through kids.”

The kids who worked on the federally funded video were referred by probation officers, social workers or school counselors.

All shared an initial skepticism about the project--doubts that evaporated when they got down to work.

Peter Camacho, 17, a former Oxnard gang member and recovering alcoholic, wrote a script about a young addict who shared needles and woke up one day terrified that he would contract the virus that causes AIDS.

Oxnard College art student Chris Matthews, 19, co-wrote a sardonic talk-show script in which the HIV virus acts as a host, taunting callers that he’ll catch up with them eventually. And 14-year-old Lydia Spurlock of Santa Paula wrote about a depressed, abused teen-age boy who turns to drugs for solace.

The teen-agers will return to the ranch in late August to shoot the 28-minute video.

“I didn’t have a chance in a lot of aspects of life,” Chris said. “I want to do something productive here and be able to see what I’ve done at the end.”