Drinking can turn spring into tragedy

Spring. The world is greening up, winter is in retreat, and expectation is in the air. At school, it's becoming more and more difficult for students to keep their minds on their work, especially those who are counting the days to graduation.

Too often, however, spring becomes a time of tragedy and sadness.

Too many parents are jolted into reality with the news that their child has been killed or injured in an alcohol-related car injury on the night of prom or graduation. Too many parents are forced to help their children deal with the sad consequences of the teens' actions while they are under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

But what are parents to do? Their kids won't listen, anyway, will they? Yes they will, according to Dr. Raymond Scalettar, former chairman of the American Medical Association.

"Study after study has shown that parents are one of the most powerful deterrents to underage drinking," he said. "While parents may think they have no impact on their teens' behavior, teenagers consistently rank their parents as the most influential factor in their decisions about alcohol consumption," Scalettar said.

His comments came as part of a news release related to April as Alcohol Awareness Month, sent out by the Century Council, a not-for-profit organization funded by the distilled spirits industry.

And that industry has reason to be concerned. During a recent compliance check in Washington County, Nebraska, 14 of the 38 businesses with liquor licenses sold alcohol to a minor. Of those, eight did not check identification before selling the alcohol, and six checked the underage buyer's ID, and then sold the alcohol anyway.

Parents who are tempted to wink at underage drinking should face some sobering facts, according to a 1998 study by Mediascope Press:

* Three million children ages 14-17 are "problem drinkers.'

* Some 88 percent of high school seniors have tried alcohol at least once, as have 82 percent of 10th graders and 69 percent of eighth graders. Even worse, 28 percent, 21 percent and 13 percent, respectively, admitted to binge drinking -- five or more drinks in a row on one occasion) in the two weeks before the survey, and one in 30 high school seniors were drinking daily.

* Federal data shows that in the year 2000, 58 percent of traffic fatalities were alcohol-related during the prom and graduation period, compared with 41 percent for the rest of the year. In addition, 36 percent of all alcohol-related traffic fatalities are young people between the ages of 15 and 20, below the legal age to consume alcoholic beverages.

It behooves all of us -- parents, adult friends, retailers -- to do everything we can to prevent drinking tragedies this spring.