Only about 25 people showed up for a South County Municipal Alliance meeting on the problem of underage drinking.
By: Linda Seida
LAMBERTVILLE Where were you?
The odds are your child is facing peer pressure to drink alcohol or even drinking already, but you missed the forum presented by local officials and experts last week about combating underage drinking.
Organizers were disappointed in the turnout of only about 25 parents. They had hoped to see about 10 times that many.
They want parents to know the underage drinking problem is real, and it’s entrenched in Hunterdon County.
Worse, sometimes parents are the ones serving the drinks.
While some concerned parents were in the audience at the Lambertville-New Hope Ambulance and Rescue Squad on Alexander Avenue, many of the faces belonged to educators and school and municipal officials who already are aware of the growing problem.
Some children take their first drink as young as 9 years old.
Lambertville police often see youths who are seriously impaired and worse.
"We’ve had kids with above .30 alcohol levels, which starts to put them near death," said Police Director Bruce Cocuzza. "It’s happening in town all the time."
As a panel of experts spoke last week, they acknowledged they were "preaching to the choir," to adults who already are concerned about underage drinking and the tacit approval it often receives from the adults in their lives who should know better.
The panel included Mr. Cocuzza, West Amwell Township Patrolman Kelly Kendig, retired state police Detective James Conover and South Hunterdon Regional High School’s student assistance counselor Margaret Christofely.
According to a survey of 240 of South Hunterdon’s 333 students, 43 percent of 11th- and 12th-graders drink alcohol without their parents’ knowledge. Thirty-seven percent said they drink with their parents’ full knowledge.
Among ninth- and 10th-graders, 31 percent said their parents know they drink. Among seventh- and eighth-graders, 18 percent said their parents are aware they imbibe.
Among juniors and seniors, 21 percent drink before a school event, and 20 percent drink during school. In the last month before the survey was given, 68 percent had used alcohol, and 47 percent had imbibed until they were drunk.
Among freshmen and sophomores, 43 percent admitted alcohol use in the month prior while 25 percent had gotten drunk. Among middle school students, 17 percent had used alcohol in the month prior while 10 percent had gotten drunk.
The same survey was given four years ago. The results were similar.
"We’re not making any progress," South Hunterdon Superintendent Lisa Brady said.
To counter the trend, officials are promoting a Safe Homes program. Parents are asked to pledge not to serve alcohol to minors. They also will be asked to include their names and phone numbers in a directory of Safe Homes. The directory will enable parents of their children’s friends to contact them and ask if there will be supervision in the home if a child visits and also to make sure no alcohol will be served.
If you missed the forum, opportunities to learn about Safe Homes will be presented in the future, including at South Hunterdon’s back-to-school night in the fall, according to Ms. Brady, who moderated the forum May 16.
If you think you don’t need it, think again, the experts seemed to be saying.
Mr. Conover, the detective who spent 25 years with the state police, said he could tell you "war story after war story" about the 15 years he spent working in narcotics, 10 of them undercover.
He recalled instances while working undercover when he bought drugs from a teenager in the basement while his parents were hosting a party upstairs.
Another parent couldn’t understand how her son had become involved in something illegal, Mr. Conover said. The teen had numerous locks on his bedroom door, and his mother saw no problem with that. She wanted to give him "privacy rights."
Mr. Conover knows firsthand the ease with which kids can get their hands on alcohol. He acknowledged he drank his first beer at the age of 13. A recovering alcoholic, he has been sober for 26 years, he said.
Police Director Cocuzza gave a parenting example from his own family. When his teenager has a party, Mr. Cocuzza makes sure his son knows he will be actively overseeing the event, not hibernating upstairs while the party rages in the basement.
Of course, teens rarely like it. But as Mr. Cocuzza would tell his own son, "’Learn to live with it; I’ll be bopping in and out.’ You have to let them know you’re watching what they do."
Mr. Conover said, "Parenting is a constant test."
"Don’t think you know for sure what your kid is doing," Mr. Cocuzza said. "That peer pressure is murder. It does affect what they do."
In addition to protecting their own child, Mr. Cocuzza said parents should protect their assets by not serving alcohol to their child’s friends.
"They could potentially face serious legal charges," Mr. Cocuzza said. If you serve alcohol, and the minor is later involved in an accident or suffers a serious injury, "You can kiss your home goodbye and whatever else you have."
For more information about the Safe Homes program, contact Ms. Christofely through the school’s main office at 397-2060.