Town Meeting on teen drinking
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| Thu, 10-26-2006 - 10:48am |
Where we live, it seems that all the teens drink. That is what they do to socialize. It was like this when I was a teen too. I can't say I'm happy about it... I wish they could find better things to do. It just seems to be so much fun for them and they manage to have these big parties which parents supply or they find older friends to supply the alcohol. Many of you have posted disatisfaction with parents supplying the alcohol and I am with you all on that. I just can't believe they'd take the risk and contribute to some possible consequences. At the same time I feel funny about not letting my two teens socialize with their friends.
Anyway... this Monday, there is a "town meeting" at the high school to address this community-wide issue. I am curious about how that will go. Any thoughts?
Deb

My first thought is that if a 'town meeting' is being called to specifically address the issue of teens and alcohol, you're not the only parent concerned about it! Who initiated the meeting? Parents or town authorities? It will be interesting to learn if the adult 'suppliers' are present at the meeting, or if they are called to task on their involvement.
It could end up to be an evening of nothing more than finger pointing, or something really good come out of it -- maybe the community will come together with some ideas or activities that would provide teens the opportunity to get together for a fun night of socializing with each other in a 'no alcohol' permitted venue.
I'll be curious to hear how it all plays out. Are you planning on attending? Keep us posted.
That should be an interesting meeting. I would be interested to see how many parents actually stand up and publicly state the "they're better off drinking at my house than in some field" theory. I would also like to see how many of the supplying parents agree that teens shouldn't drink.
I agree with the other poster in that I hope this doesn't turn into a finger pointing session. I am also curious as to who called this meeting - parents, educators, town officials, law enforcement, etc.
Definitely keep us posted on this one!
I think if the meeting serves as a way to inform or reiterate to the parents what the consequences are of supplying your kid and his/her friends with alcohol, then it's a good thing. The could also discuss the consequences of being caught with alcohol or under the influence during school hours or events. The forum could also adress the issues surrounding alcohol consumption and it's consequences in regards to date rape and personal safety.
All of those things are informative and helpful to parents. However, if the purpose is to merely point fingers or have a little parent rally to squash normal teen social events, then I'd probably skip it. We live in a very small town and it never fails - the parents with the biggest mouths and pointed fingers are the very ones who bend or break the rules when it comes to thier kids. The President of our Board of Ed came forward and endorsed the right to have sniffing dogs and breathalyzers at our school dances, proms, etc. Meanwhile, all of his 4 kids had the worst reputation as partyers. Ironically, everyone knew about his kids, but strangely, none of them were ever arrested or penalized for thier misdeeds. Then this guy gets up in front of our community and starts telling all of us how to better parent our kids? I don't think so, pal. But I am getting off track here...lol.
I think involving the community in meetings that directly affect the community as a whole is a good idea, as long as communication is open, honest and productive.
I would think the good thing about it is, at least they are talking about it. Hopefully that will bring more awareness to the parents who choose to look the other way.
I really don't understand why more parents don't open their eyes to all of this. So much of it can be found right on their MY Spaces. Yet, parents don't look.
I hope something good comes of it!
Deb
Please stress at the town meeting that school suspension is not the answer to the problem.
I'm the $350-jacket mom (thanks for all the replies)whose son was recently suspended and I now believe that perhaps our home punishment was too harsh. But I still feel it is more relevant to the problem of underage, illegal drinking than the punishment the school imposed on our son. Only two weeks after the incident, his grades have gone from A/B to B/C; and he feels he can never catch up. What he did in no way affected the academic environment at his school, and I strongly believe it is wrong for the school to prevent him from attending his classes. Alternative punishment they could impose: community service, attending AA meetings, after-school detention. Yesterday we went to a psychologist and I believe that it will be helpful, but we would not have had to go through all this if the school had simply informed us of our son's actions and let US take care of punishing him.
I am also furious that for a first-time offense, the school does not give the parents a chance to handle the problem at home. Our punishment would have sufficed to get the messaage across without any punishment from the school. We did not know our son and his friends drank alcohol and this was the first we'd heard of it. Like most parents, we always remind our kids of the dangers of drinking and driving, of engaging in ANY illegal activity and, at least monthly, clip articles for them to read about mistakes others have made. Guess what? They still make dumb choices.
I feel that, as a result of all this, we have the additional problem of an unnecessarily depressed teen who can no longer function at school and who, feeling helpless, might engage in worse, illegal activity. Something is VERY WRONG with the whole picture.
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http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/october/meet_the_new_health_.php
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQTBYQlQ7yM
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http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/october/meet_the_new_health_.php
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQTBYQlQ7yM