By Richard Hoegh
A group of core community workers have been meeting to map out a long range program to stop underage access to alcohol. The effort is being guided by the Mountain Communities Family Resource Center, which obtained a small grant to study the problem here.
Mountain Community social workers, business people, educators, law enforcement and parents held a meeting last month to design a program to reduce underage drinking.
The group was guided by Michael Browning, Regional Trainer at the Institute for the Study of Social Change based at the University of California in Berkeley.
The discussion centered on using school health studies, zero tolerance peer groups and publishing stories about the unacceptable consequences of teen drinking.
The new Kern County ordinance making parents criminally liable for youth access to alcohol needs to be publicized, they said, to impact parents who supply alcohol to students. A whopping $1,000 fine can be levied for each incidence.
The group also considered reminding alcohol retail outlets of the legal prohibitions against providing alcohol to underage drinkers.
Anne Weber of the Family Resource Center told the group that of the 100 high school students surveyed by the center in their focus group study, some stated they started drinking in school on Friday afternoons and continued through the weekends. "They were then either too hung-over to come to school on Monday or could not function to grasp their classroom work when they were in school on Monday," she said.
Educator Diane Reid reported that students bring alcohol to school in plastic water bottles.
David Dale stressed the importance of reaching students in their school classwork or in their relations with peer groups who do not use alcohol. He commented that a life without alcohol is a good life.
Newly-promoted Lieutenant David Barker, from the Kern County Sheriff’s office, brought up the importance of neighborhood watch programs and of neighbors reporting violations of the law when parents supply alcohol for parties or when an adult bystander buys alcohol for teens.
Daniel Dunker suggested having a booth at Fiesta Days to hand out brochures and answer questions about alcoholism. He also suggested putting a severely wrecked car beside an intersection here in the mountains with a sign, "A teenage drunk caused this. One of them died."
Kim Volkmar, who is on the board of the Frazier Mountain Boys & Girls Club reports that the date for the next Youth Access to Alcohol Coalition Meeting is Wednesday, June 27 at 6:30 p.m., at Frazier Park Elementary School cafeteria.
"Attendance at the past two meetings has been great, and we certainly want to keep the momentum going," Volkmar said. The public, parents and youth are invited to attend. A timeline for prevention activities is being developed.
Further information may be obtained from Anne Weber or Kim Volkmar at (661) 245-4303.
This is part of the June 22, 2007 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.
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