Underage drinking should never be tolerated

The latest town meeting was held in Sayre on May 15. Last month, two other town meetings were held – one in Towanda and the other in Sullivan County. Those making the presentations provided some chilling facts associated with underage drinking.

For example, during the Towanda meeting, it was reported that – based on surveys – 42 percent of the high school seniors in Bradford County drink regularly, and 23 percent admitted to the practice of binge drinking.

Desiree Spencer, executive director of Partners in Family & Community Development, who served as one of the panelists at the Towanda meeting, reported that “in every class we go into, the students say, ‘Everybody (the students) is doing it (drinking).’”

The Sayre town meeting also presented some similar grim facts. According to a survey conducted of Bradford County’s seven school districts back in 2005, in the sixth grade, over a quarter of the students admitted to having consumed an alcoholic beverage. Nearly 35 percent of the sophomores surveyed reported drinking within the past 30 days.

The problem with alcohol is it’s a drug – a fact that a large portion of the public fails to recognize. According to the information presented at the meetings, many adults don’t see any harm in underage kids drinking. Ms. Spencer reported that the primary place for juveniles in rural areas to obtain alcoholic beverages is their own homes.

We’re not saying that parents are going out and buying booze for their kids. A large majority of parents understand that such an act is illegal, and should not be done. But, there are some parents and other adults who are entirely too tolerant when they discover a child who’s obviously been consuming alcoholic beverages. These people put it down to “acceptable” social activities, when nothing could be further from the truth.

Make no mistake — alcohol is a mind-altering drug; the most abused drug in the nation, due to its easy availability. Adolescents who drink are putting themselves at risk – both in the legal system as well as their health. Adolescents who binge drink are committing a form of drug abuse that can be just as bad as methamphetamine or heroin if left unchecked.

We commend those who organized the town meetings to educate the public about the dangers of adolescents using alcoholic beverages. In addition to Ms. Spencer, others who took part in the events included Magisterial District Judge Mike Shaw, who provided information about the strain alcohol abuse puts on the legal system; Phil Cusano, director of Bradford County’s drug and alcohol program; Thomas Yaeger, a family practice physician from Robert Packer Hospital, Kim Davenport, program director of behavioral health services at Robert Packer; and Pennsylvania State Troopers Thomas Kelly and Marty Connors.

These and other people are performing a great community service by working hard to educate the public that it is unacceptable to tolerate the idea of allowing adolescents to consume alcoholic beverages. Adolescents who drink alcohol – and particularly those who binge drink – put themselves at legal and health risks, which had adverse long-term consequences on any community where underage drinking occurs.

Daily and Sunday Review