Why do parents think it is all right to furnish underage adolescents with alcohol? Not a week goes by where I don’t hear some story about parents providing alcohol to minors at parties.
As a counselor for both in-class and online alcohol classes I often discuss this subject with my students. Not surprisingly, a large number of students in my minor in possession (MIP) classes regularly receive alcohol from their parents and those of their friends.
A party that involved members of Falmouth High School's championship baseball and boys lacrosse teams has led to charges against a Massachusetts couple for furnishing a place for minors to consume alcohol. This according to www.pressherald.com.
When police arrived on the scene they found a large party with 75 to 100 high school students and 35 to 40 cars. Of course the owner of the home met officers outside and lied claiming there were no drugs or alcohol inside the home. Without a warrant or probably cause, police took him at his word.
An hour later, officers pulled over a car for an expired registration. The driver was sober but some of the car’s occupants said they had been drinking at the party the same officers had just been to.
Officers returned to the home and with probable cause found students had been drinking and smoking marijuana.
Several ran or climbed into cars and tried to leave. Two other teenagers were charged with possession of alcohol and another with possession of marijuana.
There was also vomit on some of the cars parked there, indicating that perhaps drinking was taking place. Police found one student passed out on a neighbor’s lawn.
Now the parents are in jail and a celebration for two state athletic championships ended in a sad way. These parents need a Massachusetts alcohol class. They need a parenting class and they need to take responsibility and be parents.