Teen drinking never OK at home
Daily Herald Editorial Board
An emotional case was played out in front of the Illinois Supreme Court Tuesday when a lawyer for a Lake County couple tried to convince the justices that his clients were not liable for what happened to a guest once he left their home.
Tragically, the guest in question was an 18-year-old who drove drunk and crashed his car into a tree on his way home from a party the couple had allowed. Daniel Bell died that night. A passenger in his car, Ross Trace, 18, also was killed.
The high court has a hard case to resolve in terms of civil liability. But one thing is certain: If parents don't allow drinking parties for teenagers, they won't face similar tragic consequences.
Jeffrey and Sara Hutsell of Deerfield were convicted in 2007 of allowing teenagers to drink in their home during a Homecoming party for teens attending Deerfield High School. Jeffrey Hutsell was sentenced to serve two weeks in jail and probation. Sara Hutsell was on 18 months of probation. They now face a multimillion-dollar lawsuit from a parent of one of the teens killed that night.
It's a tragedy that could have been avoided. And yet parties like the one the Hutsells allowed go on all over the suburbs. Earlier this month, two Arlington Heights parents were charged after officers broke up a party in their home and arrested 19 minors on alcohol-related charges. Last year, a Buffalo Grove mom was arrested after two parties were raided in her home.
What are these parents thinking? Some may believe it's safer to have kids drinking in their home rather than doing it somewhere else. We say that's rationalization for wanting to be the cool parents in the crowd. A parent is much better off being strict and providing a safe place to go without drinking.
Others may say that parent is naive, but rather than kowtowing to what the kids say is normal behavior and what other parents might say is inevitable, that parent is doing his or her job.
“Some people have always believed that if the kids were drinking under their so-called supervision, it was not really a problem,” Deerfield Police Chief John Sliozis said at the time the Hutsells were convicted. “As acceptable as that myth may have been 20 or 30 years ago, I believe there is no way to deny that teens are far too mobile these days for anyone to subscribe to it.”
Des Plaines police have participated in a parent awareness program in the past few years. They have put up signs during prom season that say, “Parents Who Host Lose the Most.” It's part of a nationwide program that reported a 42 percent decrease between 2001 and 2006 among youth respondents who said they know of parents who host parties where alcohol is available or served to teens. More towns should participate in this program and avoid the tragedy that the village of Deerfield and these families faced in 2007 and continue to deal with today.