A friend I see about once a month was catching me up on what she and her family have been doing. She started talking about high school parties -- the kind she hosts and the other kind. She is feeling completely lost in a sea of parents who are not only allowing their kids to drink, but serving the alcohol. "Two of the teenaged boys were telling me about a party and they said 'the mom could've been arrested, she was serving 14 and 15 year olds'". She described neighbors who let kids drink as long as they stay on the property. "Mom," her 16-year-old said to her, "they have a pool! That's dangerous!"
My friend talked about how her friends say it's no big deal and suggest she's out of touch. They ask her what was she doing at that age, after all. I pointed out that we know so much more than our parents did about the short and long term risks for teens using alcohol. Here are some more. . .
The CDC reports that "Forty-five hundred teenagers (12 / day) die each year in the United States from excessive alcohol consumption." They go on to say that alcohol is a contributor in the other major causes of teen death -- suicide, homicide and accidents.
One option is to make sure that you make the call. "I hear you are having a party. I hear you have a pool. Do you let teens drink at parties at your house? Does anyone check to reinforce no-drinking house rules?"
It's tough. We lose social capital when we become the neighborhood naysayers. We risk becoming the gong that no one listens to.
So I wonder, whose responsibility is it to let these parents who have a pool know that they are neither cool nor safe when they let teens drink "as long as they stay on the property?"
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