Keep underage drinking in check

A new school year is beginning. Birthdays, proms, graduations, All happy occasions that also, history has shown, provide the temptations and opportunities in many cases for teenagers to drink.

A parent's worst nightmare is getting the phone call in the middle of the night that a son or daughter has been in an accident - either injured or killed - as a result of drinking alcohol.

Even worse is finding out that their son or daughter was provided the alcohol by an adult.

In Lake County, they are doing something about that. We applaud the efforts of the Lake County Underage Drinking Task Force, which has drafted a law intended to hold any adult - anyone over 17 - accountable for hosting an event where kids are drinking or doing drugs. It also broadens the kinds of places where the law can be enforced - such as hotels, boats, buses and banquet halls.

So far, according to a story by Daily Herald staff writer Vincent Pierri, at least 14 communities have passed the "social hosting" law written by the task force. Five more are considering passage.

"This closes some loopholes ... parents can't ignore the situation without consequences," Lindenhurst village Trustee Dominic Marturano said after approving the law last week.

A high-profile case in Deerfield prompted the stricter law. In 2006, two 18-year-olds were killed in a crash just after leaving a drinking party. The parents were home and the were found guilty of endangering the life of a child.

We have spoken out many times against parents hosing those types of parties. Parents who do shirk their duties to protect their children and their friends and should be prosecuted.

One of the leaders of the task force, Mundelein Police Chief Ray Rose, was among a group that attended a recent Department of Justice conference on underage drinking. They presented their efforts to curb the issue in Lake County.

The conference was promoted by Jeff Slowikowski, acting administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, as "an opportunity to discover new and innovative methods, tools and resources" to combat underage drinking.

"You are working to change the mindsets of parents, neighbors, schools, community leaders, businesses, youth, underserved populations on the subject of underage drinking," he said.

"You are consistently sending the message that underage drinking is not a harmless 'rite of passage' but instead an unhealthy, unsafe and illegal act that endangers the health and safety of our nation's youth and the communities in which they live."

We agree with Slowikowski and urge suburban officials throughout the area to model their Lake County counterparts and take similar steps.