At a community forum on underage drinking on June 12 at the Puyallup Library, participants focused not on why young people drink, but why don’t they.
In Pierce County about 40 percent of young people between the ages of 12 to 18 admitted to having an alcoholic drink in the last month.
That means about 60 percent of the same age group don’t drink, said Gloria Mansfield Averill, from the Tacoma Pierce County DUI Task Force and Pierce County Leadership for Alcohol and Drug Free Youth.
The forum was organized by Puyallup High schooler Hannah Cassidy and a group of students who have made the decision to not drink alcohol. To be successful in their quest requires support from friends and family, an understanding of the consequences and an honest dialogue about drinking alcohol is important.
To illustrate the need for support, Cassidy and her friends used bubble wrap and the theme “Are you ready to get wrapped?”
Supporting each other is a way to protect each other from dangerous influences, she said.
“I’m tired of seeing kids ruin their whole lives from this,” Cassidy said.
“I think a lot of it is people get peer pressured into it,” she said. “It’s OK to stand up for yourself.”
By having a community forum it gives parents and their children knowledge about underage drinking, Cassidy said.
To start the forum, a panel of adults who deal with different aspects of underage drinking spoke about their experiences.
“We all have some sort of experience,” Mansfield Averill said.
Just in the last year several families have been affected by a young driver driving under the influence and hitting someone, she said. There was a man who rides his bicycle from Fircrest to Puyallup who was hit by a girl driving home from a party. Last year alone, 12 teen drivers were killed, all of whom had been drinking, she said.
“So we clearly have a problem,” Mansfield Averill added.
But the numbers also show that the majority of young people don’t drink, she said.
The director of the Center for Human Potential for the MultiCare Health System, Randall Gross facilitated the forum of experts. As a pastor he has officiated several funerals where alcohol led to a death.
But the consequences of underage drinking are not just death, but span several aspects of a young persons life that can be a black mark for a lifetime.
Farmers Insurance Agent Dale Kelley spoke to how underage drinking can lead to devastating financial impacts when it comes to buying insurance.
Once a party is thrown at a home, whether the parents are aware or not, that homeowners liability insurance is responsible for anything that happens at or because of that party, he said.
Typically the coverage doesn’t cover the impact of a young impaired driver getting in a wreck when they leave the party. In one case, he recalled, how a family is still trying to pay off $2 million in damages.
“I don’t know where they’re going to come up with that money,” Kelley said.
A young drivers insurance is high already, because their inexperience is considered a risk, he said, but if a young driver is charged with a minor in possession or a driving while under the influence the whole family runs a risk of being dropped by their insurance provider.
They would then have to pay for a high risk insurance just to be covered. Kelley has seen cases where a young driver’s insurance is doubled the amount of their car payment because of an alcohol related offense.
Just being around an alcoholic beverage can lead to a MIP said Puyallup Police Sgt. Bob Thompson. Party calls come from all over, he said.
“Hopefully we will get there to stop a couple people,” Thompson said.
Being charged with an alcohol related offense has an impact well past being arrested said Puyallup Prosecuting Attorney Steve Kirkelie.
It can lead to a fine, community service and even jail time. For example, a minor in possession is a gross misdemeanor that can lead up to one year in jail or a $5,000 fine. It’s rare that someone receives that, Kirkelie said.
“But you are still subject to these penalties,” he said.
Going through the court process can be an intimidating ordeal, he said.
“We have a lot of cases so we can’t spend a lot of time holding anyone’s hand,” Kirkelie said.
Although juvenile records remain confidential, teens 18 years and older are can have a big red flag on their record for any future employer to see.
And it’s not just the underage drinkers that can get into trouble, Thompson said. Anyone older than 21 years old who provides alcohol to someone underage could receive criminal charges.
The danger goes beyond the legal consequences, Thompson said. Often times when the police respond to a party call they are faced with binge drinking where underage drinkers are risking their lives by drinking a lot in a very little amount of time.
They young person may be stumbling, blurry eyed, have slurred speech and vomiting.
“Kid’s seem to do it a little more often because they aren’t as tenured,” Thompson said. “We don’t want anyone to get hurt.”
Responding to a call where someone is at risk of alcohol poisoning is no fun said Puyallup Fire And Rescue Medic Erick Durant.
It doesn’t take much to be at risk for an inexperienced drinker, he said. As little as one drink for a 100 lb girl can have an impact.
Too often young people don’t react properly when a friend is in danger of alcohol poisoning. Either they are fearful of legal consequences of just don’t know what to do.
“That’s usually what happens,” Durant said.
Although there could be legal implications, he said, there are greater consequences.
“What’s worse than a friend dying?,” Durant said.
Even if death isn’t the consequence, the impact of drinking and driving can have on other people can be felt for the rest of someone’s life.
Liz Satiacum is a victim of a drunk driver. After having a baby Satiacum and her family were on their way home when a young drunk driver hit their vehicle.
She felt the brunt of the impact. She suffered three broken ribs, three broken vertebrae in her neck and seven in her back. Satiacum still has nerve damage.
“It’s really rocked our whole family,” she said.
While she was in recovery she was unable to hold her newborn.
“My husband pretty much had to raise our son by himself,” Satiacum said.
After hearing each of the speakers audience members met in small groups to discuss what would be the biggest deterrents from drinking and how they can make a positive impact in their community.
Some of the things they came up with were Satiacum’s story, not wanting to have anything on their record, the need for support from family and friends and the impact underage drinking has on other people’s lives.
Some suggestions to make a positive change included creating awareness through school assemblies, talking about underage drinking in the classroom and providing resources to set priorities and create action plans to curb underage drinking.
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