Are Parents At Just As Much Fault For Underage Drinking?

The article/news story I chose to talk about my ninth blog was written by Frank Hamilton and was printed in the Beaufort Gazette. Obviously Beaufort, South Carolina is very “close to home”. Even though it is so close, it is obvious that this is a social problem that is happening all over. This particular piece is titled, “Parents, don’t delude yourselves about drinking”. The first sentence of the article/news story is very straight to the point and I would say it pretty much sums up what the article/news story is trying to say.

The first sentence states,

“Prom and graduation parties are coming soon with the continuing problem of participants drinking alcohol and using other drugs.”

The main purpose of the article/news story is to discuss the fact of parents being ok with their teenagers drinking underage. Even though parents might not exactly look at themselves as contributing to this social problem, it is obvious that they do. An issue such as this is definitely considered a social problem, and I personally (unfortunately) have heard and experienced these types of situations. When I was in 6th grade there was a story in my hometown of Charleston, SC where a group of teenagers were arrested at a party for underage drinking, along with the parents being there as well.

Thankfully, along with the parents who tend to “support underage drinking habits” there are also groups out there that help with the situation; MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) is an example of one. The person who contributed to writing this, Franklin Hamilton, is actually the MADD Action Site Leader for Beaufort, SC. This particular article/news story actually discusses a situation in Beaufort, SC at Beaufort high school where there was a program called “Alive at 25”. This particular program was presented by the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Department. Along with MADD, other groups such as; Young Life, and the Beaufort YMCA also help with these presentations. When this article/news story was published in 2008: the three organizations held post-prom parties for the two local high schools: all three for Beaufort High school and only Young Life was involved with Battery Creek High school.

Even though there are statistics (on places such as the MADD website) showing the negative effects youth drinking can have on teenagers, parents to this day are still contributing to these habits. While this article was written back in 2008, there is still sufficient evidence to show this social problem is still very important and taking place. After reading this article, I do believe that if enough people expressed concern there could definitely be a significant turnaround. Along with just personal opinions and parents changing, there definitely should be as many presentations possible from organizations such as MADD. I honestly do believe that with the effort the number of incidences with underage drinking can definitely be lowered, I say lowered because it is definitely high probability that this social problem, like others, very well may never go away completely.