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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

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Editorial: Parents who offer alcohol to teenagers misguided

Andrienna L. McDaniel felt it was safer for her 14-year-old son and his friends to drink at her home than elsewhere.

It’s an all-too-common rationalization for parents. In McDaniel’s case, which occurred in a lower South Hill apartment in mid-August, the teens were especially young and the outcome particularly violent. Police wound up investigating whether a 14-year-old girl had been stabbed and raped.

But in many other, less-publicized incidents, parents of Spokane teens ignore the fact that it’s against the law to serve alcohol to underage friends of their children. The parents can face fines and jail time.

Convinced they’re protecting teens simply by preventing them from driving, parents often fail to reflect on the risky consequences of underage drinking. Some of these consequences are subtle but far-reaching.

By serving alcohol to minors, says Linda J. Thompson, executive director of the Greater Spokane Substance Abuse Council, parents send the message that it’s OK to break the law against underage drinking. They also give their kids tacit approval to ignore the rules of their sports team or extracurricular group. The next time an occasion to drink presents itself, those are the messages the teen’s likely to recall.

According to research published by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the neurological effects of alcohol on the adolescent brain include learning and memory impairment. A decision to drink during high school may ultimately be the choice that prevents a student from earning the grades that would get her into the college of her choice.

Other consequences are far more dramatic and immediate. Alcohol lowers inhibitions, and drinking parties often lead to unintended sex, pregnancies and even rape. It can lead to car crashes, shootings and death.

Just as we can eliminate smoking in restaurants, we also can change this social norm.

When parents hear of another parent planning to share the keys to a lake cabin for a post-prom party, or to buy the beer for a home gathering, they can exert some peer pressure of their own.

Thompson recommends calling the host parent and politely explaining that your child won’t be allowed to attend a party where alcohol is served. Even just one or two calls from other parents can be enough to prompt the host parent to reconsider the idea.

Parents of children in Spokane Public Schools wind up desperate for help when they discover their teen has a serious drinking problem, says Bonnie Ducharme, student services coordinator for Spokane Public Schools. In contrast, most parents show very little interest in the topic of prevention.

There’s an opportunity to correct that. Parents are invited to attend an advisory meeting at 2:30 p.m. Sept. 21 at the school district’s boardroom, 200 N. Bernard St.

It may seem that the only way to navigate a teen’s various rites of passage is to wrap oneself in a cocoon of parental denial – and maybe pour another drink. But that’s absolutely no way to protect a child.