CNN.com: Teen drinking leads to crackdown on 'cool' parents

[BigMike619]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/02/12/...ing/index.html

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Shortly after midnight on January 24, a 16-year old boy from Powder Springs, Georgia, crashed his car into an oncoming vehicle. Garrett Reed, a star football player at Harrison High School, died instantly. Police believe he had been drinking.
According to police, the investigation revealed that a classmate's mother served alcohol to Reed. Police charged 43-year-old Kecia Evangela Whitfield with furnishing alcohol to a minor and reckless conduct, both misdemeanors.
Whitfield was released on a $10,000 bond and awaits a court date in April. Records on file with the Cobb County solicitor general's office indictate she has not yet entered a plea or obtained a lawyer. She did not return CNN's phone calls.
If convicted, she could receive up to a year in jail and fines totaling thousands of dollars.
Toxicology reports for Reed will be released in six weeks, officials said. His death stunned the small community of Powder Springs and sounded an alarm for parents.
________________________________________________

1 year in jail? thats it? thats horrible...she should face much more then that.

[MattFancy]

i was listening to elliot in the morning the other day and they were talking about parent supplying alcohol for teens. there was one caller that said her husband had bought mike's hard lemonade one night for their 16 yr old niece to try one time at their house. the next day the niece called child services and told them that her uncle had bought her alcohol. he spent 8 months in jail for it.

[renaissance]

My parents never let me drink anything more than a glass of champagne on New Year's. Hell, when I was growing up they barely drank anything themselves. Even on my brother's 21st b-day they hesitated to serve alcohol, lol.

Now that we're all of age, they drink fairly regularly

[BigMike619]

my mom would whoop my ass when she found out i drank.

there is NO way she would have let me or my friends drink.

[GoSkins561]

In a controlled environment, I have no problems with my kids drinking once they turn 16.

I figure they will drink either way, so why not take away their keys and create a fun, SAFE, environment to drink alcohol and keep them off the roads.

[endzone_dave]

i was listening to elliot in the morning the other day and they were talking about parent supplying alcohol for teens. there was one caller that said her husband had bought mike's hard lemonade one night for their 16 yr old niece to try one time at their house. the next day the niece called child services and told them that her uncle had bought her alcohol. he spent 8 months in jail for it.

Wow, what a vindictive little *****.

[BurntToast]

In a controlled environment, I have no problems with my kids drinking once they turn 16.

I figure they will drink either way, so why not take away their keys and create a fun, SAFE, environment to drink alcohol and keep them off the roads.

My parents where the same way and it worked out great. They rather have my friends over and drink rather than in some dark park.

[NawtyMagazine]

if you can go to war at 18 you can drink a beer

[BigMike619]

if you can go to war at 18 you can drink a beer

this I actually agree with.

[Skinz4Life12]

if you can go to war at 18 you can drink a beer

[PleaseBlitz]

My parents where the same way and it worked out great. They rather have my friends over and drink rather than in some dark park.

Once we were in college, my parents were fine with it. But they collected everyone's keys.

[MattFancy]

if you can go to war at 18 you can drink a beer

makes perfect sense to me. you can drive a car, go to war and kill people, buy cigarettes and porn, but can't have a beer? hell you can go out and live on your own at 18 too. i just don't understand why you can't drink beer

[rdsknbill]

There was a similar case here. No accident involved, but the parents got hit hard and a bunch of football players got the ax for the season

http://ydr.inyork.com/ci_10824461?IA...ydr.inyork.com

Residents call Dallastown charges 'a lesson'
Some Dallastown-area residents reacted to the underage-drinking case.
By ANGIE MASON
Daily Record/Sunday News

Posted: 10/27/2008 12:23:27 AM EDT


The charges filed against adults and youths in connection with an underage drinking party in Dallastown show there are consequences for everyone, one Dallastown youth football coach said Sunday.

"It's a lesson for parents, not just kids," Dan Kennedy said.

On Friday, York Area Regional Police charged four adults with providing alcohol to Dallastown Area High School students at a party on Oct. 5. Four juveniles and two 18-year-olds were also cited with underage drinking.

Some Dallastown-area residents said that, if the adults knowingly provided the alcohol, they deserve the punishment.

"If my son was at that party, I'd have a lawsuit against them," said Corey Sunday, who was at Tailgaters Grille and Drafthouse in York Township on Sunday with Kennedy and Rob Catchings. All three coach


Dallastown Cougars youth football.

"I know it wouldn't happen in my house," Kennedy said.

The adults might have thought they were controlling the environment, he said, but, if the allegations are true, they "messed up."

"It was bad judgment on their part," he said.

Michael and Christine Kinsey, who live in the Dallastown school district, said they have underage children.

"They don't get served in our house," Christine Kinsey said.

Michael Kinsey said that, if adults provide alcohol to minors, they have to take the consequences.

But, he said the Dallastown Area School District overreacted in punishing the kids involved.

School officials have said they cut eight football players and several cheerleaders from those activities because the students signed a pledge promising not to drink, smoke or use drugs.
That's what bothers Sunday and Kennedy.

"They talk about teaching lessons . . . but when do we ruin a kid's life because of a bad mistake?" Kennedy said. A football player could lose a college scholarship by being cut from the team, he said.

Sunday said high school is all about learning from mistakes. Now, without their extra-curricular activities, the kids have nothing to lose, he said.

He said the students should have been suspended for a few games but given the chance to come back.

"It took away a whole season from these guys," he said.

[GoSkins561]

My parents where the same way and it worked out great. They rather have my friends over and drink rather than in some dark park.

My wifes parents were the "cool" type of parents, and would supply a place to party and the alcohol as long as the kids gave up their keys and stayed the night.

My parents were strict, I wanted to drink and go to parties when kids parents were out of town so what did we do. We shoulder tappedan got as much cheap alcohhol as possible and drove to the party. We then drank all of the alcohol and drove to the next place.

After hearing my wifes party stories and compared them to mine they were pretty much the same minus the drunk driving. The woman in this story is stupid for not taking away the teens keys.

[Larry]

if you can go to war at 18 you can drink a beer

Actually, I've been saying ever since the drinking age got raised to 21 (thus beginning this argument) that I think US military personnel should be allowed to drink on base.

My reasoning is that if Gomer Pyle wants to hoist a few at the enlisted club, then he's not going to be driving back to the barracks.

And if he drinks so much that he's unfit for duty the next morning, then I'm certain that Sergeant Carter has several very creative ways to "instruct" his privates that soldiers do not have the right to render themselves unfit for duty.