EDITOR’S NOTE: Piedmont Police Chief Scott Singer writes a weekly column in The Piedmont-Surrey Gazette. This week, the Piedmont City Council passed an ordinance that allows officers to write citations to underage drinkers at parties where adults are not present. Singer chimes in on the dangers of underage drinking at parties and social hosting. Read The Chief’s Briefs.
The Chief’s Briefs
Social Hosting – Tragedy Upon Tragedy
By Chief Scott A. Singer
Last week we were discussing summertime hazards found around the home. This series was primarily to address the dangers to smaller children and to children for whom judgement is a sometimes thing. During the last installment, we were beginning to work our way into the interior of the home, searching for and working to – mitigate potential physical dangers which exist therein. However, an old topic – addressed in past columns – has reared its ugly head once again! What I’m speaking of is the issue of the dangers of “Social Hosting.”
Once again, headlining in local news; Social Hosting as its known was also an issue presented to the Piedmont City Council at this past regularly scheduled meeting. By a majority vote, the council approved Ordinance 696, adding section 3-302 c, providing for a prohibition for persons under the age of twenty-one (21) from possessing or consuming alcoholic beverages at a social gathering where their parent or guardian are not present. The council took this ordinance further by declaring an emergency exists and therefore the ordinance shall take effect immediately. It is well to remember that not only do municipal ordinances exist, but Oklahoma Statutes also outline violations, penalties and personal liabilities for hosting such events.
How extensive is this issue? Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) state that from their survey, 33% of teens said their parents willingly gave them alcohol. Further, at least 25% of underage drinkers report they have attended parties where underage drinking occurred in front of and with the approving knowledge of supervising parents. Last, more than 40% of teens reported in this survey that they could easily obtain alcohol from the parent(s) of a friend.
What’s the real cost?
While we talk about criminal and civil sanctions for violations of Social Hosting laws, the hazards to our children can’t be overstated. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), more than 189,000 emergency room visits and 4,300 deaths occur each year as a result of underage drinking – often times associated with and frequently sponsored by parents. Further, the CDC in a 2017 report, estimates that the annual cost to the economy exceeds $24 billion dollars.
What other harm may come from parents condoning underage drinking? Well, let’s take a historic look at what’s happened in past incidents of alcohol infused teenage hormones, and misjudgments…
At many such gatherings, fights erupt created from without and within, between both invited and uninvited guests. Often times, such fights escalate into altercations involving weapons of a wide variety. From personal weapons such as fists, knives, and other blunt objects, to firearms. And, juxtaposed from yesteryear, involvement can include multiple participants and onlookers cheering on or baiting one or more of the participants. Tragically, in this new world of virtually everyone believing themselves to be victimized or slighted, engagements such as these escalate and continue for extended periods of time, adding to the suffering, grief and fear.
Choices!
So, where will you stand as a parent on the issues of social hosting and permissive parenting? Will you be “cool” or concerned? Will you choose safety over societal indulgence? It is my fervent hope that parents considering hosting such events stand strong for rightness and safety. If you fail in this endeavor, where will you find yourself standing? Will you be standing with your child in a courtroom as a defendant, victim or litigant? Or will you find yourself standing over a pastoral plot of ground, weeping for the loss of a child? Whether seriously injured or worse, these are experiences no parent should face. Please choose well!
I’ll end with the words of former First Lady Jackie Kennedy…”If you bungle raising your children, I don’t think whatever else you do matters very much.”
