News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
If it seems that Sisters youth are getting themselves into trouble at a younger age, that impression is borne out by citations to the Juvenile Empowerment Team diversion program.
According to JET coordinator Kirsten Werner, the majority of her case load in the past year has been violations involving middle school students. And, Werner said, she received three referrals for elementary school students in the last month alone.
The relative youth of a dozen teens cited as minors in possession of alcohol at a party last May 16 came as a surprise to Werner.
"Most of the youth were 14-15 years old, which is highly unusual," Werner said.
Police cited 12 minors at a birthday celebration for a 15-year-old Sisters boy. Two adults, one the father of the boy, were cited for furnishing alcohol to minors.
According to Werner, the teens' parents thought they were dropping their children off at a typical young person's birthday party. She said they were none too pleased that an adult provided beer for their children.
"Shocked, I would say is the word," Werner said. "You just don't think of that with your 14-or 15-year-old."
But think of it they must, Werner said. Teen drinking is no longer an experiment just for 17-year-olds.
"The community needs to realize that kids are participating in these activities at a younger age," Werner said. "They're growing up a lot faster."
They may be growing up faster, but those teens are still children, without adult social skills and the ability to think through consequences, according to Werner.
"At 14 or 15, they have really poor refusal skills," Werner said. "A lot of these kids found themselves in a situation they didn't anticipate and they didn't know how to just call and say 'come pick me up.'"
The teens were required to go through a drug and alcohol assessment, and they are to appear before the Sisters Teen Court on Monday, June 8, for sentencing.
According to Werner, most of the parents were glad that the issue played out with citations and Teen Court instead of a more serious scenario.
"I think, for the most part, there was a lot of concern among the parents," Werner said. "I think they were happy that this happened, which is the way I tried to get the parents to look at it."
Werner believes the early intervention alerted parents to a potential problem, and served as a wake-up call to the teens.
Werner noted that they all face losing driving privileges until they are 18 if they get cited for MIP a second time.
Werner praised Sisters sheriff's deputies for their attention to the potential problem of underage drinking.
"Law enforcement does a good job of finding out about this stuff and getting on top of it," she said. "If we get their attention now, maybe we won't have to scrape them off the pavement some night."
Werner urges parents to get involved in the lives and activities of their teenage children, getting to know their friends - and their friends' parents.
"Don't just drop your kid off and assume all is well, "she said.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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