Underage drinking raises concerns

Drinking among some players cost the Sisters Outlaws varsity baseball team their season. Drinking has caused life-threatening medical crises for Sisters teens.

The problem is real and acknowledgd in Sisters, but not everyone has got the message.

A Think Again ParentS (TAPS) town hall meeting brought a crowd to Sisters High School last Wednesday evening to discuss reducing substance abuse in Sisters’ young people. The main message of the event was in its title, “Think underage drinking is not an issue in our community? Think again!”

TAPS member Al Boyette estimated the crowd numbered up to 175 people.

“Of course we had a lot of parents but we also had a lot of kids and they were very attentive,” said Boyette.

Boyette and the other presenters tried to explain the problems of underage drinking. Boyette took the percentages of kids who drank alcohol in the last 30 days according to the Oregon Healthy Teens Survey and put that in real numbers of Sisters kids. Based on that survey, 166 Sisters 10th graders statistically would have had alcohol in the last month.

“That’s when it began to hit people,” said Boyette. “And when you looked at the number of students who were binge drinking, it really hit home.”

The keynote speaker was Lawrence Piper who is a Certified Prevention Specialist with the Oregon Department of Human Services’ Office of Mental Health & Addiction Services. Piper said that parental monitoring has a positive impact on teens’ drinking behavior. He said parents should know their children’s friends and know their attitudes towards alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use. He said to discuss a clear “no-use policy” for children and keep the dialog going.

Don Pray, School Resource Officer for Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office, explained the wide reaching impact of underage drinking. From crime to car accidents to alcohol poisoning, he outlined how alcohol abuse spreads to other problems.

Boyette said the TAPS members thought their message “really resonated with the audience.” He added about 20 parents asked to be a part of the TAPS coalition. He thinks the new awareness the meeting brought to the Sisters’ community will help form TAPS’ direction for future activities.

Boyette said the evening sparked some interesting discussions. For example, one Sisters mom who brought a group of teens said they were surprised to know that not “everybody” was drinking.

“There is a certain amount of strength for those who do not drink to know so many don’t” said Boyette.