Too
many teens drinking
Panel to discuss problem. Meeting
set for Tuesday at Community Prevention Resources Center.
Sunday, March 26, 206 • By ANDREA EILENBERGER
• The Express-Times
Teens are drinking alcohol younger, and
society has become too comfortable with that dangerous
scenario.
Kids too young for bars are getting drunk
on a regular basis, and many adults look the other way to
what they see as a right of passage. That permissive
attitude can prove deadly, according to Dot DelCampo of the
Community Prevention Resources Center in Warren
County.
"That's what we want to overcome," she
said. "'They're safer doing it at home' -- no they're
not."
The center is holding a meeting Tuesday
during which a panel will address that topic. The group
includes addiction counselors, police officers, clergy,
local school officials and other authorities.
DelCampo hopes to see a large turnout at
the meeting, "especially after the horrific crash" that
killed two Easton Area High School juniors.
Kyle Kehler, 18, was arrested March 10 in
connection with the drunken-driving wreck.
Police said Kehler spent the night
partying and drank at least three beers and several shots of
spiced rum before getting behind the wheel. Police are still
investigating, but they identified three homes where the
teens gathered before the early-morning crash.
Drinking and driving is an obvious
danger, but alcohol use, especially among young people who
are more addiction-prone, creates a host of lifelong
problems, DelCampo said.
About 5,000 people under 21 die from
alcohol-related incidents like drunken driving, alcohol
poisoning and suicide, she said.
Underage drinking "is a problem, it's
always a problem," according to Warren County Assistant
Prosecutor Tara Kirkendall.
"We're working to getting better laws to
address the issue," she said.
Some municipalities, including Alpha and
Washington Township, gave police more authority to handle
underage drinking on private property, she said.
State law extends only to possession or
consumption of alcohol on public property or in a vehicle.
There are also provisions allowing officers to charge adults
for supplying minors with alcohol.
But ordinances like Washington Township's
means an officer can go "directly to those kinds of house
parties whether the parents are there or not," Kirkendall
said.
The ordinance makes it unlawful for
minors to drink alcohol on private property except for
religious reasons, in the presence of a parent or guardian
or if they are involved in food preparation or culinary
programs.
It also provides for fines of up to $250
for a first offense, $350 for subsequent ones and a
six-month delay or suspension of driving
privileges.
The center will host a county-wide
meeting April 6 at the Warren County Community College and
10 other meetings in county municipalities.
Reporter Andrea Eilenberger can be reached at 610-258-7171
or by e-mail at aeilenberger@express-times.com.
© 2006 The Express-Times. Used with
permission.
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