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Health & Fitness

Parents: Don't be a party to teenage drinking this prom and graduation season

During prom and graduation season, prevention efforts can help ensure safe, fun and memorable celebrations. Parents who talk to their teens and model appropriate behavior are critical.

By Diane Eckert

It’s an exciting time of year with prom and graduation season ahead. But for many students, the celebrations also are a time for binge drinking.

Already this year we’ve heard too much about some dire and fatal consequences associated with underage and high-risk drinking – from more than 40 students in Arlington County recently charged with underage drinking at an unsupervised house party to a Loudoun County student who returned to the wrong house and was shot and killed by a neighbor to a young California teen who committed suicide after photos were posted online of her being sexually battered while she was unconscious after a night of drinking.

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This prom and graduation season the Unified Prevention Coalition of Fairfax County (UPC) is asking county parents and residents to support alcohol-free events and to report underage drinking parties by calling the county police department’s non-emergency number. Callers to 703-691-2131 can be anonymous.

The Fairfax County School Board and the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, in support of UPC’s efforts to reduce underage drinking, have proclaimed May as Parents Who Host, Lose the Most Month. The Parents Who Host, Lose the Most: Don’t Be a Party to Teenage Drinking campaign informs parents and other adults about the legal ramifications and health and safety risks of serving alcohol to teens.

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During Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, UPC Youth Council member Sakira Coleman thanked the board for supporting the public awareness campaign for the seventh year.

“It is important to recognize the need for parents to supervise teen parties in their homes and not to allow underage drinking,” said Sakira, 16, a sophomore at South County Secondary School. “We see and hear far too much about underage drinking and drinking and driving.”

 “Our youth are educating parents on this issue,” said Supervisor John Cook, who noted that when parents allow underage drinking, “it is irresponsible,” and they are “affirmatively engaging in criminal activity.”

As the school board resolution approved April 18 notes: “Prevention efforts, including parents talking to their teens and modeling appropriate behavior are critical, particularly during prom and graduation season.”

According to the 2011-2012 Fairfax County Youth Survey, 37.1 percent of high school seniors had consumed alcohol in the last 30 days, and 20.7 percent of seniors had engaged in binge drinking in the last two weeks. Alcohol is the most commonly used illegal drug by Fairfax County students, and 65 percent of underage youth say they get alcohol from family and friends (even though it is illegal in Virginia for a person under 21 years of age to consume or possess alcohol, and it is illegal for an adult to provide alcohol to a person under 21).

Unfortunately, some parents look on drinking as a rite of passage and fail to recognize that their attitudes are negatively influencing their children. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, “research shows that kids whose parents or friends’ parents provide alcohol for teen get-togethers are more likely to engage in heavier drinking, to drink more often, and to get into traffic crashes.”

The good news is that parents can play a vital role in helping teens make good decisions about alcohol. Research shows that regular communication between parent and their children has a positive influence on decisions teens make.

UPC encourages parents and other adults to help keep prom and graduation night safe for teens by following these tips:

  • Do not serve or allow alcohol at any party you are hosting; an adult who provides alcohol to a minor is breaking the law and risking that teen’s life.
  • Know where your teenager is attending a party; verify there will be parental supervision, and that it will be alcohol-free.
  • Make it clear to your child(ren) that you do NOT approve of their drinking alcohol.
  • Report underage drinking parties by calling the Fairfax County Police Department’s non-emergency number: 703-691-2131. Your call can be anonymous.
  • Educate your family on the risks associated with underage drinking and its proven harmful effects on the brain. The legal drinking age is 21, and students who wait until their early 20s to drink are 84 percent less likely to develop an addiction than those who start earlier.
  • Make sure your teen has a plan for the night and that you know what it is.
  • Do not rent hotel rooms for prom-goers.
  • Know who is driving – if it’s a limo, check their policy on allowing alcohol.
  • Encourage your senior to attend their school’s All Night Graduation Celebration.

Please help protect your child’s bright future by providing a safe, alcohol-free season of celebrations for your son or daughter.

Diane Eckert, a recognized prevention leader at the local, state and national level, is the executive director of the Unified Prevention Coalition of Fairfax County.  

The Unified Prevention Coalition of Fairfax County is a nonprofit organization with more than 50 community partners working together to keep youth and young adults safe and drug-free. Visit www.unifiedpreventioncoalition.org. (Parents Who Host, Lose the Most is a program of the Drug-Free Action Alliance.)  

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