Underage drinking a persistent danger

Courier News, Home News Tribune, myCentralJersey.com

By Frank J. Provenzano

As a career law enforcement officer, I often responded to calls involving young adults where the misuse of alcoholic beverages was a contributing cause of the incident.

Police calls concerning motor vehicle accidents, assaults, disorderly conduct and criminal mischief, etc., often occurred because of drinking by young adults. Way too often, families bury sons or daughters because of alcohol-related incidents.

A recent example of this occurred in April when a Notre Dame football recruit, who allegedly was drunk, fell from a hotel balcony while on spring break and died.

Parents, police, educators and our communities should always strive to educate teens about the use and misuse of alcoholic beverages, in an attempt to reduce the many negative situations that happen because of alcohol consumption.

The Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study submitted the following: "Each year, more than 1,400 college students in the United States die from alcohol-related unintentional injuries, the majority coming in motor vehicle crashes; 2 million students drove while under the influence of alcohol and over 3 million rode with an intoxicated driver; more than 600,000 were hit or assaulted by another student who had been drinking; one in five drinkers reported that they engaged in unplanned sexual activity as a result of their drinking."

These numbers are simply astronomical. The study further reports that 11 percent of the students surveyed "reported they vandalized property while under the influence of alcohol, while 7 percent said they got into trouble with the police when drinking."

The results of the Harvard survey are indicative of the day-to-day calls received by police departments throughout Somerset County.

During my career with the Bridgewater Police Department, several cases are prevalent in my mind. One in particular, where I responded, was a call of an intruder into a home.

When I arrived, there was a very drunk young man trying to get into the back door of what he thought was his house, which it was not. The homeowner became frightened and called police. It turned out that it was prom night and this high school student, who was highly intoxicated, had left the prom.

Although frightened, the homeowner remained calm and averted a situation in which underage drinking and poor choices could have turned violent had the homeowner reacted differently.

If the underaged young man involved made an alcohol-free decision that night, he would have enjoyed the prom rather than suffer from the negative consequences that resulted from his poor choice.

As parents, police officers, educators, and professionals, we have all heard the following statements from permissive parents about alcohol use by those under the legal drinking age.

"It will teach them responsible drinking before college."

"If I take their keys, they won’t drink and drive, so they’ll be safe."

"Underage drinking is an inevitable rite of passage that adolescents can easily recover from, because their bodies are more resilient."

But in reality, scientific research disputes these myths by supporting the fact that "the older you are when you have your first drink, the less likely you are to experience problems with alcohol as you get older."

Worse yet, how many times have we heard on the news about parents being arrested for hosting underage drinkers at their own homes?

What can be done to reduce the misuse of alcoholic beverages by young adults? Our teenagers have provided some outstanding advice in a study done by Columbia University. "Teens reported that they rely on the adults in their lives more than anyone to help them make the tough decisions and provide good advice."

Teens also observe their parents’ behavior. "Teens who witness their parents drunk are themselves likelier to get drunk."

Parents must talk about the topic of alcohol use with their children from adolescence to young adulthood. In addition to being a good role model, parents must set clear, specific, consistent and reasonable rules about alcohol use, as well as monitoring their children’s activities, and most important of all, be a good role model.

Success will be measured by those who will not suffer a lifetime of consequences for making bad decisions involving the misuse of alcoholic beverages.

A relatively new group at risk for misuse of alcohol is our returning young war veterans. Unless you’ve experienced war yourself, it is difficult to understand the underlying factors that contribute to alcoholism and drug addiction among our veterans. Families often dismiss the veteran’s excessive use of alcohol as something that is temporary and will pass with time.

It’s imperative that parents, roommates, or friends of these young men and women encourage and help them to seek the necessary medical treatment with the respect they deserve.

To learn more about the harmful consequences of alcohol use, join us at the Somerset’s Initiative for Partying Safely (SIPS)/Healthy Options for Prevention and Education (HOPE) Community Forum on April 28 at Raritan Valley Community College from 6 to 8 p.m.

To register, visit EmPoWERsomerset.com and click on the SIPS/HOPE Community Forum registration announcement on the right side of the home page in the "Did You Know?" box.

Frank J. Provenzano is sheriff of Somerset County.