Underage drinking causes problems for teens, parents
Spring is in the air, and that has many teenagers turning their attention to prom. It can be a fun tradition with young ladies dressing up in gowns and young men learning what a corsage is.
But there’s another, less wholesome side to prom. We know the event can lead to teens engaging in risky behavior. That often can be traced back to alcohol.
Underage drinking is a major public health problem. Excessive underage drinking plays a role in 24 percent of fatal car crashes in this country, 43 percent of sexual assaults and 9 percent of suicides.
Still, some people don’t take underage drinking seriously.
A recent American Medical Association survey shows half of all teenagers say they can get alcohol from a friend’s parent, with full knowledge. Oftentimes, this access to alcohol comes during a party—and we know those kinds of parties tend to follow prom.
But for those who are considering supplying—or drinking—alcohol on prom night, I offer a reminder: There are legal consequences.
Underage drinking tickets aren’t cheap and can result in a driver’s license suspension. If a teen is caught drinking and driving, penalties increase tenfold. Adults who provide alcohol to those who are underage—or who fail to take action to prevent a minor from drinking—face first-time fines of up to $500. A second violation could lead to a 30-day imprisonment. If a minor is hurt or killed because of the alcohol provided, the responsible adult faces felony charges.
After discussions with Jefferson County District Attorney Susan Happ after two local tragedies, I’m working to further crack down on people who provide alcohol to the “under 21” crowd.
You might remember that, in 2009, an 18-year-old Jefferson County man consumed alcohol at two parties where adults provided alcohol to underage people. Hours later, the young man died in a drunken driving crash. Again in 2010, an 18-year-old woman and her 19-year-old passenger attended an underage drinking party. A rollover crash killed the 19-year-old passenger.
Current law severely penalizes those who provide alcohol to minors—people younger than 18—if they are killed or suffer great bodily harm as a result of the alcohol provided. But the law doesn’t create criminal liability for people who provide alcohol to 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds. In the cases above, the person killed was 18 or older, so the district attorney’s office could not file criminal charges against the adult homeowners who provided the alcohol. My bill ensures that adults who buy or provide alcohol for underage people may face criminal prosecution when their actions result in death or great bodily harm to an underage person.
Make no mistake, underage drinking is a matter of life and death. So if you’re an adult, don’t provide drinks to kids. If you’re a teen, please don’t drink! You don’t need alcohol to have a good time—and I challenge you to prove that at prom this year.
Rep. Andy Jorgensen, D-Fort Atkinson, represents the 37th Assembly District. Contact him at 1-888-534-0037, rep.jorgensen@legis.Wisconsin.gov or P.O. Box 8952, Madison, WI 53708.
Feb 12, 2013 at 9:01 a.m.
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Govt Nannies telling adults to not provide alcohol to minors! Legislating common sense! Remember this is about children drinking.....(not plantiff attorneys seeking large $ judgments)....
Feb 12, 2013 at 7:54 a.m.
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I don't know what the answer is I agree with the first two posts that the idea you are an adult at 18 but cannot drink legally until 21 is a bit odd at best. Saying you shouldn't drink until 25 because you can't handle it makes sense as well. I think we put a huge emphasis on alcohol especially in this state, we start young and we drink a lot, I didn't realize this until I moved away, so you have a culture in this state and even more so in this town that says we love our beer, our wine and of course our old fashions, yet tell kids (I am calling under 21 kids) that they cannot partake, it is the forbidden fruit aspect, that just makes them want it more and when they do, let's face it they overdo it, we all did. Pile on the fact that kids in this area don't have much to do as opposed to other places and whammo you have underage drinking issues. Are there ways to curb it? Probably. Is the drinking culture so ingrained in people around here it won't change? Most likely.
Apr 15, 2012 at 1:36 p.m.
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factplease: Had you phrased that to say people should not drink alcohol until the age of 25 I would probably agree. I could take that even further and say that scientific evidence strongly suggests that no one of ANY age should ever get "drunk". But, there is huge distinction between an activity being unwise or inadvisable and the criminalization of that activity. Especially when the activity is considered criminal only when someone in a particular minority group does it.
Apr 15, 2012 at 12:53 p.m.
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Drinking age should be 25, from a purely scientific point of view. Brain development isn't complete until 25 and the damage is greater on a developing brain.
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... people ages 21 to 24 were given enough alcohol to raise their blood-alcohol level slightly below the accepted legal limit of 0.08 percent; enough to get a “buzz.” People ages 25 to 29 received the same amount. On simple cognitive tests, the younger group showed 25 percent more impairment than the older group.
Young brains have more NMDA receptors than adult brains, according to Swartzwelder, with a different balance of proteins. That accounts for the striking decrease in memory activity when exposed to alcohol.
Read more at Suite101: Young Brains on Alcohol: Adolescent Brain Development Suffers Lasting Effects From Alcohol | Suite101.com http://susan-hance.suite101.com/young-br...
Apr 15, 2012 at 12:13 p.m.
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luvujvl: I didn't suggest any solution. I meant only to point out that a group of citizens has decided that a particular minority group of citizens shall have less liberty than they have. By law, this establishes distinct "classes" of adult citizenship, yet both groups seem to quietly accept this status quo with a straight face. I find that most frightening because there is NO practical limit to how far such thinking could be taken and quietly accepted by all.
(I also agree with Olderandornerier about it being STUPID.)
Apr 15, 2012 at 9:18 a.m.
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"Underage Drinking Causes Problems..." - DUH!
Tragedy is Nature's unbiased clearinghouse for bad decisons. A sad but perennial truth.
Apr 15, 2012 at 7:55 a.m.
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What are you suggesting? Changing the age of adulthood, or changing the legal drinking age? Or changing both to match somewhere in the middle?
Apr 15, 2012 at 7:35 a.m.
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Setting the age of adulthood at 18 and the legal drinking age at 21 is a perfect example of STUPID.
Apr 15, 2012 at 7:08 a.m.
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Setting the age of adulthood at 18 and the legal drinking age at 21 is a perfect example of "Tyranny of the Majority".
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