Underage drinking persists

The hospitalization of intoxicated teenagers at a teen dance and arrests of underage drinkers in the past three weeks show the effect of increased vigilance and stronger laws, but also reflect a continuing problem, parents, police, and others said.

A resident's complaint about a loud party resulted in police breaking up a party where youths were drinking last Friday night on Richmond Hill Road, a civic-minded act that might have prevented an alcohol-related car crash or other mishap, said Nancy Korotkin, president of the Greenwich Coalition to Combat Underage Drinking.

"The thing we keep pounding the pavement about is to talk about it, talk about it, talk about it," Korotkin said. "I kind of believe the coverage this issue has been getting and the response the police have been able to give because of the cooperation of citizens means our efforts are actually working."

On Friday police charged 17 youths, ages 15 to 17, with possession of alcohol at the Richmond Hill Road party, and also charged the 16-year-old girl who lived at the home with allowing her peers to drink there. Three weeks ago seven high school students ages 13 to 17 were taken to Greenwich Hospital after they arrived at an Arch Street teen center dance visibly intoxicated, leading to an ongoing police investigation into who provided the alcohol.

The next night, police broke up a house party on Taconic Road where they said a dozen youths were drinking alcohol. Police charged the 17-year-old boy who hosted the party with risk of injury to a minor, possession of alcohol by a minor, and another girl was charged with interfering with police by fleeing into the woods.

Parents have the first responsibility to maintain an open discussion with their children about alcohol, said Kyle Silver, director of the Arch Street Teen Center said.

Silver said that he hopes the attention caused by police charging teens for possessing alcohol might influence more teens to avoid drinking.

"Focusing in on these recent episodes I'm so thankful that there have been no fatalities or serious injuries from what has happened," Silver said. "We can't be naive to the aspects of growing up and that our children are going to make mistakes, and youth should be able to talk with their parents when they need them."

Police Chief David Ridberg said that clandestine drinking among youth in town is a common occurrence, with increased instances around graduation, school vacations, and other events.

Officers are enforcing the new house party law, which went into effect last October and gave them the power to charge minors with possession of alcohol on private property, but police continue to attend to safety and medical issues first.

The offense carries a maximum $136 fine, and a 150-day suspension of a state driver's license.

At teen parties involving alcohol, police continue to carry out "controlled dispersals," a time-consuming task of detaining youth and contacting their parents to come pick them up to prevent drunk driving, and to assess each teenager's state of intoxication.

Officer Robert McKiernan said that the recently enacted law has allowed police to at least impose some consequences for teenagers who drink.

"It has been positive because there are consequences now, but as for the long term impact, whether there are less parties, and fewer tragedies, remains to be seen," said McKiernan. "But so far it has been a positive for us."

This fall, meetings of the Junior United Way, a group of students from local schools that plans and organizes events for teenagers, will include discussions of underage drinking and some of the factors that contribute to it, said Jennifer Byxbee, the youth coordinator for the United Way of Greenwich who moderates the group.

Most teenagers want to know about ways to curb underage drinking, Byxbee said, and they said that education about the new law and other consequences, such as being suspended from athletics and other activities for violating the law, can rob drinking of its allure.

"Kids want to truly know the consequences of it, whether it is knowing if they show up at a youth event they will be turned away and the police called," Byxbee said. "And they want those consequences to be consistent for everyone."

Byxbee said youth agencies sponsoring alcohol-free events need to reconsider the level of supervision they want at events in the future, and whether additional security and Breathlyzer tests could be necessary.

"We're learning kids need to know what to expect in terms of protocols and level of security but I don't think it will be any one thing which will be the solution to underage drinking," Byxbee said. "On the other hand if kids know they are showing up in this facility and they will be supervised we're hearing maybe they won't even show up then. We're asking all those questions about security, supervision and about the Breathlyzers."

Silver said he questions the mindset of the teenagers who were charged at the Richmond Hill Road house party, which was during Homecoming weekend.

"In my memory Homecoming weekend was one of the most amazing times you can remember from my high school career," Silver said. "I ask why? They had a great place to be yet they weren't there. It's frustrating."

Jenny Lawton, the owner of the Arcadia Coffee Shop, which holds events geared toward town youth, said that using her store as a venue for teenagers requires a firm hand.

Around midnight one night in early August a group of rowdy youths at a Hip Hop Night at Lawton's coffee shop started fighting outside and she called the police, she said.

That night, an ambulance also took an intoxicated 14-year-old Stamford boy to the hospital from the same event, Lawton said."I'm always looking out for kids who might be impaired and my first priority is their safety," Lawton said. "If I can't reach their parents I call 911, which is what I did this summer."

After canceling two events for teens in response to the problems she had this summer, Lawton said the shop will try again and host a party on Halloween night. Lawton said she feels that the new house party law will help discourage drinking, but continually improving nightlife for teenagers should remain a priority.

"I think the police are cracking down," she said. "If there is a keg party down the street they are finding out about it and stopping it, which is what they should do. Kids shouldn't be getting drunk to the point they have to go to the hospital."

Greenwich Time