Panel examines underage drinking problem

Published 10:54 pm Wednesday, February 28, 2007

At one point in Wednesday’s community information session on underage drinking at the Whitfield County Career Academy, Dalton High assistant principal Ron Ward asked a group of students to raise their hands if they know students who drink, and if they know where to get alcohol if they want it.

Nearly all the students’ hands went into the air.

There was one main reason to host the event, according to Ann Kuzniak, coordinator of the Whitfield Family Connection/Families and Children First organization in Dalton.

“Alcohol is still the No. 1 drug of choice among teenagers,” Kuzniak said.

The event was mediated by Kuzniak and by Simone Powell, project director of the Georgia Underage Drinking Prevention Initiative of the Council on Alcohol and Drugs.

They led a panel of local experts, including Becky Croft, of the Teen Resource Center of the North Georgia Health District; Keith Dacus, Whitfield County Juvenile Court; Bruce Kenemer, the Department of Juvenile Justice; Jason Keown, a Whitfield County school resource officer; and Tammy West, DARE officer for the Murray County Sheriff’s Department.

The event took place in the media center at the Career Academy. Many of the panelists said a key to combating underage drinking is for parents to be good role models. Their children, in turn, will model their parents’ actions.

“Many kids are getting alcohol from their parents. It’s a widely accepted thing,” Croft said. “We have to get out there and make people realize alcohol leads to as many or more problems than other drugs. Parents need to think about what they’re doing around their young children.”

According to self-reports to the state Department of Human Resources, about 364,000 underage youth in Georgia drink each year. In 2005, underage drinkers consumed 13 percent of all alcohol sold in Georgia, totaling $428 million in sales and $207 million in profits to the alcohol industry.

Kenemer said he sees parents as a big part of the problem.

“Society has changed. Ten or 20 years ago, I could have counted on one hand how many parents would provide their children alcohol,” he said. “Now it’s almost no big deal.”

Kenemer said the courts are burdened with these teens, who he said need preventive action other than incarceration.

“I’ve worked 27 years in this community, and we have fewer tools today than ever to deal with this problem. Ten to twelve years ago, we had a program that forced kids to sit down and talk with their families,” Kenemer said. “Many times they’re locked up in an institution and their little brothers and sisters model their behavior.”

Dacus said of 1,600 delinquency charges that have come through Whitfield County’s juvenile courts, only 90 involved underage drinking; however, he said that number could be misleading.

“Many times, it doesn’t come to light as a criminal charge, and many times people just don’t get caught,” Dacus said. “Overall, it needs to be addressed. There aren’t enough diversion programs.”

While Dacus takes many of his charges from school resource officers, Keown said many other cases are brushed aside.

“Even violations of Georgia law are sometimes handled internally in the school disciplinary system,” Keown said. “I report and charge all those cases; it should be universal.”

Simone said her initiative has handled calls from Dalton police looking for ways to combat the problem of retailers selling to underage consumers.

“Kids know where they can buy. That’s a huge problem, and we want to change that environment,” Simone said. “One thing we’re doing in Cobb County is requiring businesses that apply for an alcohol license to go through our training.”

The panelists suggested contacting local representatives and working with local lawmakers to strengthen local codes. They also said local chapters of groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) can make a difference.