Forum Delivers Stark Underage Drinking Message To Teens

By Kendra Bobowick

“We have a drinking problem in Newtown, that’s why we’re here,” Officer William Chapman told the teens and parents Monday night.

Facing a room filled for the Freshman Forum on Underage Drinking, he said, “Alcohol. Basically it messes up your brain. With alcohol in the brain you might make poor decisions — at 14 I made poor decisions anyway!” Adding alcohol “will fire up your emotions. It will act as a catalyst.” Alcohol will “decrease the side that says, ‘This is not a good idea.’ It doesn’t make you smarter or stronger, but it makes you think so,” he said. Alcohol “can get you hurt. You’ll see it. Kids will come in with a broken foot and you’ll ask what happened …” Usually their explanation involves drinking.

Shuffling through papers in packets containing student evaluations, drinking statistics, images of cars smashed against trees, and pint glasses of beer raised to the lips, students were quiet alongside their parents as First Selectman Pat Llodra stepped before them. “The average age when young people start drinking is 13,” she said. Indicating the critical years between ages 13 and 17, she said, “We care that children survive. We care they survive with a healthy mind and body,” she said.

Schools Superintendent Janet Robinson made special “accolades” to parents who “care about decisions your children are making. At this age decisions are made impulsively and for fun and can often have consequences.” The evening’s speakers soon offered stories of car accidents, lawsuits, and brain injury. Dr Robinson said, “Listen and remember. These things can happen to any one of us. Teens believe they’re invincible and we need frank discussion.”

Children who drink are vulnerable, she said. “We need to persuade and support our children.” Noting the school staff, officers, professionals, and others who attended or contributed to the night’s forum, Dr Robinson said, “There are many who want to keep Newtown’s children alive and healthy. We really care about your kids.”

As seats filled in the high school’s media room, guest speakers offered lessons, moments of levity mixed with stories of loss, recollections of car accidents and awaking in the hospital to learn of a passenger’s death, life suffocating under the weight of alcohol used to cover feelings of unhappiness, and emergency room trauma.

Students also learned: “We love you guys. We love you; I hope you realize how much care goes into this [effort to avert underage drinking],” said Granby school psychologist Scott MacDonald. And later they would hear from Principal Chip Dumais, “You’re good kids. Every kid in here is a good kid.”

Officer Chapman

Earlier, Officer Chapman had said, “Let’s talk about going to jail.” If parents permit minors to possess alcohol, an infraction will follow. To the parents he said, “If you drop a child off at a house where parents there are allowing alcohol, and you know about it, you could be liable.” He warned that if circumstances warrant it, “The state can take your kids away.”

He said, “Parents, I know you have interest in your kids. Students, I know you have interest in yourselves, so take the easy steps and don’t drink.” He knows it is tough to stay home from a party “where all your friends are.” He asked, “Meet me half way. Go, but don’t drink.” Call him at the police department anytime. “I am available to you. Take advantage of it.”

Dr Begg

Newtown resident and emergency room doctor William Begg told a story: “A girl comes in. She is 15 years old and not feeling well. She passed out and her mother asked, ‘Why did she pass out?’ I told the mother I suspected alcohol.” The mother denied it. The girl’s alcohol level was three times over the limit. When the daughter woke, Dr Begg had said, “I know you’re a good kid, but tell your mother the truth,” he asked. She had said, “I was drinking with a friend …” Looking at the parents and students gathered Monday, he said, “The mother fell off her chair, literally.”

Parents need to look for clues. “When your child comes home, have a little chat, are their eyes bloodshot?” he said. He also stressed that parents should set a good example. “Kids don’t care about the drinking age, they look at the parents.” He warned, “You don’t want your kid to have to see me.”

Speaking from his own experiences at the hospital, he asked, “What’s worse than telling a parent, ‘Your child is paralyzed’?”

To the girls he warned, “You wake up and don’t know if you’ve been raped or not, and you come in [to the hospital] the next day with your mom.” On a screen behind him was the projected illustration of a pregnancy. Dr Begg said, “Young ladies, you have got to think before you take any alcohol.” He then addressed injuries from auto accidents: “You can fix a leg or a broken arm, but a brain injury?” The answer has to be prevention, he said.

To parents he said, “Recognize signs: changes in sleep, in friends, or in behavior.”

 

Dr MacDonald

“What are your dreams?” asked Dr MacDonald, the Granby school psychologist. “What are your dreams for your kids?” From the audience he received the answers, “happy,” “independent,” “successful.” To the students he said, “Raise your hand if you want good grades, to play an instrument, to play a sport, have friends. Who here wants a career, to be a doctor, to have a family?” He stressed, “You need a brain. You get only one.” He said, “You have many things you take in.” Pointing to his head he said, “[Alcohol] messes up what happens in here. You may interrupt brain maturity and development.” Teens with prolonged drinking can risk “loss of brain growth.”

He told them, “I want you to stay the way you are.” Alcohol could “disrupt mental abilities, personality. It can change who you are as a person.”

He then explained the “trap to alcohol.”

 “Initially you feel euphoric, but later or the next day is a hangover, guilt, or a poor choice that maybe you can’t walk out of in a day, a year, or a lifetime.”

Attorney Maddox

“What happens when things go wrong?” asked local Attorney Matthew Maddox. In answer, he offered a legal perspective on the repercussions of underage drinking, relating a recently decided Connecticut case involving a young man driving drunk.

“A 20-year-old man was hurtling southbound and ignored the double yellow line. He was passing cars and slammed head-on into [another car carrying a husband and wife]. He severely injured them. His driving was outrageous and dangerous. The verdict was for $10 million.”

Lawyers will look for assets “to see who pays for the client’s severe injuries,” he said. Looking at the room full of expectant faces, he asked them, “Who here has the assets to cover the verdict in the summary I just read?”

To the parents specifically he said, “If you believe the kids in the house might be drinking, you better wake up. You better stop it.” A case could be won on circumstantial arguments: you live in a house with a liquor cabinet and your teenage child has a friend visiting. If something goes wrong, the law can argue that the parent should have known, he explained. “Legally, there is a call for a higher standard of vigilance for parents,” he said.

“If being concerned about your child’s welfare isn’t enough, what about being sued,” he asked.

Ending the evening, Mr Dumais said, “Every kid here is a good kid, but we address issues. Some of them will drink and we will catch them. I am not predicting the future; I am telling you what happens, and after the mistake the kid is still a good kid who made a bad choice.” He told parents, “There will be consequences, and hopefully there won’t be the same bad choices.”

Lights dimmed and a spotlight shone on an empty chair. A tape recorded girl’s voice asked, “Why do they do it mom, when they know it costs our lives …” The poem, spoken as a young girl bleeding onto pavement after a drunk driver hit her, makes a last appeal: “Put ‘Daddy’s Girl’ on my grave.”

The high school staff, administration, PTSA, and superintendent’s office developed the forum, which was funded by the PTSA, Newtown Youth & Family Services, and the Newtown Parent Connection.