Westbrook police, school officials and residents are banding together in an effort to bring an end to underage drinking in the city.
This effort includes a community meeting held last Wednesday and another upcoming meeting on April 25.
The police are taking part in both forums and are also doing some things of their own. Since receiving a grant from the state last summer, they’ve been scouring the city in plainclothes teams on random nights looking for signs of underage drinking. They’ve undergone special training, scoped out places where alcohol is sold to see if any kids are buying illegally, and listened for talk on the street. Police hope to continue their underage drinking patrols indefinitely.
On March 10, the Westbrook police broke up a high school house party and issued about 20 summonses to kids drinking alcohol. Police also called the parents and had them pick up their kids so they could talk to the parents and so the parents knew where the party had taken place.
The overall message of this community effort is that everyone should bring underage drinking more to their awareness and take action where they can. “This is a community problem. It requires a community solution,” said Maine Attorney General Steve Rowe at the April 5 meeting.
Rowe asked parents to set boundaries for their kids’ behavior, talk to them about stresses they’re feeling, give them excuses to say to their friends for not drinking. Most of all, he asked parents not to enable underage drinking by allowing it under what they think are “controlled” circumstances. These would include parties where the parent allows drinking, but takes away car keys.
Cumberland County Assistant District Attorney Christine Thibeault said adults should stop glamorizing alcohol, laughing about things they do when they drink or did when they were young and drinking.
Dr. Mark Publicker, who works with alcoholics and addicts, asked parents to set clear boundaries for their kids and help them find meaning and purpose. He said “alcoholism in Maine is in fact a pediatric concern” because alcohol use by kids affects their developing brains much more than adult brains and greatly enhances the risk of alcoholism later in life.
Westbrook Police Chief Paul McCarthy identified alcohol as the most frequent contributor to teens breaking the law. He said no family was immune from tragic occurrences directly caused by underage alcohol use.
McCarthy spoke of his own cousin who drank rum at a school dance and then ran over and killed a 15-year old classmate before falling into a coma later in his jail cell, almost dying.
A juvenile prosecutor, Thibeault said she would be hard-pressed to think of a serious aggravated assault that didn’t include alcohol. School resource officer Brian Dell Isola said he couldn’t ever remember taking a juvenile to jail for something where the juvenile wasn’t under the influence of alcohol.
Dell Isola said junior high students are harder to catch because they do their drinking in the woods, in basements, and in garages and not at parties that get broken up. However, he said those kids are easier to identify as being drunk because they tend to act more boisterous and flagrant. He asked anyone who sees kids like that to always call the police.
“Please let us know, he said. “If they’re going to a spot to drink, let us know.”
Westbrook High School Principal Marc Gousse offered the school’s help for parents who would like to call the police but don’t want their kids to suffer reprisals at school for getting a fellow student in trouble. Gousse said the school would call the police to act as a buffer between a parent and the police department if the parent finds out about a party.
A second community meeting will be held on April 25 at 7 p.m. in the Westbrook high cafeteria to develop strategies for ending underage drinking. All Westbrook residents are encouraged to attend.
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