Dangers of alcohol spelled out at Hersey

High school upperclassmen have been known to think parties with alcohol or other drugs are a rite of passage.

But Judge Eileen O’Neill Burke of the Cook County circuit court and Tom Glasgow, a criminal defense attorney who is a member of the Arlington Heights Village Board, have seen the consequences these common but illegal activities can bring.

The two spoke Thursday to juniors and seniors at Hersey High School in Arlington Heights, presenting the “7 Reasons to Leave the Party” program developed by the Illinois Judges Association.

Everyone in the kitchen where people are drinking alcohol can be charged with underage possession, said Burke. All the occupants of a car where there’s marijuana potentially faces charges of possession of illegal drugs, regardless of who owns it.

The 18-year-old who has sex with a consenting 15-year-old might be charged with criminal sexual abuse and spend 10 years on a sex offenders list. And, of course, anyone can lose his or her license, or even life, by driving after drinking.

Doing what “everyone does” could become the single blot on a youngster’s record that prevents him or her from achieving longtime career goals, said Burke, who heads up the program that sends 150 judges to middle and high schools around the state.

Burke said she has spoken in exclusive private schools and ones where she walks past drug dealers to get inside, and finds the program “equally effective” in both places.

Hersey’s Students Against Destructive Decisions organization sponsored the assembly, and attendance was required for juniors and seniors.