Montgomery County: going in the right direction to prevent teenage drinking

Consider: studies have shown that alcoholics are four to six times more likely than non-alcoholics to have a parent with a drinking habit. Now, imagine what would happen if these parents openly offered their kids alcoholic drinks.

Unfortunately, this problem is not uncommon. Last month, Montgomery County began its second year of the "Parents Who Host, Lose the Most" campaign, headed by the Alliance on Underage Drinking, which plans to crack down on parents who help their children break the drinking age law. Parents who make alcohol available to minors can face fines between $1,000 and $1,500.

By offering alcohol to teens, parents not only help kids violate state law but also end up fueling a bad habit with countless negative consequences. According to the American Psychological Association, heavy drinking not only damages learning abilities but can also kill brain cells in the hippocampus, the region of the brain associated with memory.

Though some may argue that offering drinks to teenagers would kill curiosity at a young age, it could also do the opposite: spark a habit at a young age. Parents who offer drinks to their children are openly giving an opportunity to go on a wrong path – the path of alcoholism. Ultimately, the parents should be held liable for their children's misguided actions.

Today, automobile accidents are the leading cause of death for 15- to 20-year-olds. A large percentage of these crashes have been linked to alcohol consumption. In 2003, close to a third of drivers in this age group who were involved in fatal crashes had been drinking. The statistic remains the same for Montgomery County: about a third of the 16 fatal crashes by drivers under 21 were alcohol-related.

Programs similar to "Parents Who Host Lose the Most" have been instituted in other states, such as Florida and Texas. Some states even adopted a zero-tolerance policy for underage drinking, meaning that first-time violators could immediately suffer sever consequences. The results were clearly effective. In Maine, for example, after December 1994, when a zero tolerance policy was started, the ratio of young drivers in nighttime single-vehicle injury crashes (a common measure for alcohol-related crashes) versus daytime decreased by about five percent. Montgomery County, if it implements a stricter alcohol policy, could join the list of states that have reduced alcohol-related teenage accidents.

What's troubling is that close to 65 percent of teenagers admitted to getting alcohol from their family or friends, according to a survey by the Century Council. Taking these statistics into consideration, one can understand that Montgomery County is trying to stop the problem at its root. Though this major program won't cure the teenage drinking problem entirely, it is exactly what the county needs: a step in the right direction.