Editorial: Local laws help, but adults must set example on teenage drinking
This week, the Arlington Heights village board upped the ante for parents who condone underage drinking in their homes, by raising the fines to between $1,000 and $5,000.
That's on top of the threat of jail or of fines as high as $25,000, as decreed by the Illinois state legislature in 2013, if someone dies from a drinking party in your home.
Communities in 24 states have social responsibility laws that penalize adults who permit teens to drink in their homes. These laws, like the new Arlington Heights ordinance, are born out of fear and frustration — primarily of the 4,700 needless driving deaths every year as a result of teen alcohol use, according to Mothers Against Drunk Driving national statistics.
Other bad stuff happens when kids drink, too. The research is pretty clear that the younger kids are when they start drinking, the more likely they will over-drink when older.
Adolescent brain development is harmed by alcohol. Dropout rates increase among teens who abuse substances. Judgment is impaired — leading not just to dangerous car rides but also to unwise sexual encounters and even assaults.
We support Arlington Heights upping the penalty, though that's not the most important thing here. If someone thinks twice because of it, it could mean a life saved. Or a heartache deferred.
But legislation never takes the place of good judgment, exercised by parents who love their kids and care about their kids' friends.
As our reporter Melissa Silverberg noted in her story Wednesday, more than 20 percent of teenagers who admit to drinking say they get alcohol from adults who are not their parents. There's no universe in which that is morally acceptable.
Experts debate the effectiveness of social hosting laws, but they are united in agreeing that children imitate the alcohol consumption of their parents, and that drinking has particularly bad health effects on minors. Young people who start drinking before age 15 are five times more likely to develop alcohol problems.
Experts also suggest that when adults host “controlled” drinking parties in their homes — even when they take the car keys — they are encouraging the very behavior they are attempting to control.
Better that these same parents reach out to the parents of their child's friends, and together create a network of alcohol- and drug-free houses where their kids can have a good time.
We hope Arlington Heights never has to invoke its new social hosting penalties. We hope the conversation the penalties provoke around the dinner table is enough.