Alcohol a Real Problem, Students Say
By Janese Heavin, Columbia Daily Tribune, Mo.
Apr. 7–Columbia youngsters are consuming alcohol at early ages and, some West Junior High School students say, there’s not a lot parents can do about it.
Last night in a Douglass High School hallway outside a town hall meeting about underage drinking, ninth-grader Aurielle Sisson-White and eighth-grader Andrea Thames told the Tribune that alcohol is commonplace among West Junior teens.
“Quite a few” students are known to be drinkers, Aurielle said. Straight vodka and Bud Light are the beverages of choice at weekend parties, she said.
When asked whether kids brag about drunken experiences at school, Andrea said yes, but “people just look at them like they’re idiots.”
“That’s your friends,” Aurielle contended. “I hang out with the jocks and actor-types.”
When the “jocks” drink, others follow suit, she said. “Nerdy people try to drink because they want to be cool, or if they don’t know a lot of people,” Aurielle explained.
The students’ accounts seemed to confirm alarming statistics a panel of judges gave during the meeting sponsored by the Youth Community Coalition. Missouri children are taking their first sips of alcohol as early as age 12; those who drink before age 15 are four times as likely to become dependent; and 53 percent of Missourians 12 and older drink.
Drugs and alcohol are especially harmful at an early age because the brain is starting to develop problem-solving skills, said Jordan Alexander, a Jefferson Junior High School guidance counselor and panel speaker.
“They handicap themselves,” he said. “It becomes a coping method for all of their emotions. Alcohol and other drugs will temporarily improve their mental state, and they no longer need to seek other ways to deal with their emotions.”
Alexander said talking to kids about drugs and alcohol is key. The discussions need to come as early as fifth grade. “If we want to improve, we’re going to have to start having frank discussions,” he said.
But the Columbia teenagers, who were part of a skit staged by Teen-to-Teen InterACT during the meeting, said talking might not help. “If you give us stricter rules and more rules, and the more you try to restrict us, the more we’re going to want to break them,” Sarah Cox told about 20 adult audience members.
The teenagers admitted they would not call their parents for a ride home if they became intoxicated, even if the parents promised not to be angry with them.
Inside the meeting, Aurielle advised parents to be around when their children host parties and to encourage kids to call the police if things get out of hand. But later in the hallway, Andrea admitted teenagers are likely to resist adult supervision at parties and are unlikely to call the cops on their friends.
Aurielle and Andrea said they aren’t sure what the community can do to combat the problem, which extends well beyond booze.
“Drinking is a big thing, but the everyday thing is mostly drugs instead of alcohol,” Aurielle said.
Heather Windham, sponsor of Youth Community Coalition, is aware of the problem among local students with drugs, which she believes might start with drinking. “Because of its easy accessibility, alcohol and tobacco certainly are gateway drugs into heavier drugs,” she said.
Last night’s meeting on underage drinking was the first of what will become a series of drug awareness events.
“Columbia is in a state of denial,” Windham said. “We’re slowly bringing information and awareness.”
It won’t be an easy battle, she admitted.
Aurielle agreed. When asked whether the community could do anything to combat drugs, she said, “Unless they knock on every door, I don’t think so. I have friends who are wizards at hiding.”
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