Parents urged to help curb teen drinking

Parents need to tighten their rules and push other adults to take firmer stances against drinking among teenagers, speakers said Thursday evening during a forum aimed at curbing underage alcohol use.

"Underage drinking is an adult problem," said Patricia Baker of the Elgin-based Renz Addiction Counseling Center. Baker said she's spoken with many parents with lax attitudes about their children's drinking.

"This is a social norm ... and there is reason to be concerned about parents who think they need to teach their children how to drink ... that think if they're drinking at home, they're drinking under safe circumstances, that they can teach their children how to drink responsibly."

The forum, sponsored by The Courier News and its sister publication The (Aurora) Beacon News, was the latest of several communitywide responses since a Feb. 11 drunken-driving crash killed five Oswego teens.

Speakers from prevention and addiction counseling agencies around the state told an audience of about 100 parents, community leaders and legislators that to prevent future tragedies, they need to learn more about teen alcohol use.

"Don't be in denial," said Plano parent Barb Nadeau.

"You have to know what your kids are doing. You have to educate yourself about drugs and alcohol. You have to learn all this because your kids already know it."

Youths say it's a problem

Nadeau's son, Sean, a junior at Joliet Catholic Academy, said he hears about teen drinking parties that take place every weekend.

"In my school and the town that I live in, drinking is a very, very big problem," said Sean Nadeau, one of about two dozen teens from Project Snowball, an anti-drinking student group, who also attended the forum.

According to the local leaders, children are starting to drink and use drugs at younger and younger ages, and the behavior has become almost commonplace in area towns.

Stacy Anderson, assistant director for prevention at St. Charles North High School, said St. Charles Community Unit School District 303 conducted a survey of about 7,000 of its students in sixth through 12th grades and found startling results.

About a quarter of them reported drinking once or more in the last month; more than a quarter said they rode with a driver who drank; and 36 percent said they'd attended a drinking party in the past year.

"These are local statistics that are really scary," Anderson said. "I have been to more teen funerals in eight years than I have been for adults ... That scares me. It scares me a lot."

Parents ignoring problem

The problem, the speakers said, is that too many parents in the area are ignoring the problem or letting kids drink while they are home. St. Charles Police Chief James Lamkin said officers often try to break up teen drinking parties by tracing license plate numbers of cars parked outside. But when they call the parents, many "don't want to get involved."

"Parents say, 'My son or daughter doesn't drink ... Why are you bothering me? I don't want to come to the station,' " Lamkin said.

And many of those adults also succumb when their children ask them to let them drink or host underage parties in their homes.

"Make no mistake that it is a crime," warned Kane County Assistant State's Attorney Debra Bree. "Parents can be charged, and I believe in Kane County will be charged."

Statewide, legislators said they're working on a number of bills that will do everything from raising penalties for underage drinkers to blocking alcohol companies from running ads targeted at youths.

But laws will do little until adults change their attitudes, they said.

"The reality is, this is happening in your community. It is happening in your neighborhood, and if we're not very careful, it could be happening to your children," said state Sen. Linda Holmes, D-Aurora.

"As a senator, do I need to do something about it? Yes, of course. Unfortunately, what I've found is you can't legislate common sense, and you can't legislate good parenting."

The Courier News