Wild underage drinking in Saucon …
… is probably pretty much like wild underage drinking everywhere in the country.
Teenagers will find alcohol, by hook or by false-IDed crook. It's our job as adults to educate them and, where possible, protect them from their own evolutionarily scripted rashness.
Most kids will be kids, apart from those grown-ups (and we have a few around here) who pretend and toss the occasional “67!” or “brain rot” into their lexicon or who still think it’s 1985 (missing your own Reagan-era misery, anyone???).
Rumors have been flying all over town about “crazy” (one word I’ve heard connected to the incident) underage drinking at the last homecoming dance in Saucon.
On one level, it sounds bad. On the other, the one I often inhabit, it sounds sort of … normalish? Not great, but, my heavens, teenagers sneaking booze into the dance!!!! … it’s probably happened one or twice.
There was, as I understand it, a kind of district “investigation.” That’s a big, five-syllable word. We do need to find out what happened, beyond the obvious. But I’m less worried about teenagers being teenagers than I am about what we do, as a community, to educate their tender, inexperienced selves.
There were said to bearrests on school campus during homecoming, but that, it turns out, was false. There were summary tickets given, presumably for underage drinking. I’ve heard more from community sources, but nothing verifiable. I’ve seen little online about it.
I think we probably need to do a better job of informing young people locally—and their parents, in some cases—just how damaging underage drinking can be in Pennsylvania for the kids themselves. We live in a harsh state compared to many others. But of you’ve suffered because of an underage drinker driving and hurting someone you love, it probably doesn't seem harsh enough.
A skilled local personal injury lawyer friend of mine tells me that arresting and charging young people for underage drinking is very, very easy, and police are keen to scoop the minnows up. Even the smallest trace of booze in the blood means you’re busted, and if you’re behind a wheel, you’re facing a nightmare. It’s not like the days of yore when a cop would follow you home. From PA.gov:
Underage DUI - Zero Tolerance
Pennsylvania's Zero Tolerance Law carries serious consequences for those under 21 who are convicted of driving with any amount of alcohol in their blood. For example, those under 21 who are convicted of driving under the influence with a .02 blood alcohol content, or greater, face severe penalties, including a 12-to 18-month license suspension, 48 hours to six months in jail, and fines from $500 to $5,000.
But what can the district do? I think the school district and parents need to help young people understand the legal, social and health ramifications of drinking. We need to chaperone carefully and perhaps to revisit our procedures for training chaperones.
Responsible drinking as adults is a great pleasure and diversion for many who can handle their liquor, but responsible drinking as adults starts with educating the young.