Forum on teen drinking will appeal to parents for help

Tonight's meeting aims to get people talking.

By AUSTIN BOGUES
Published June 28, 2007

WEEKI WACHEE - Lisa Hammond believes that the typical teen drinking scenario in Hernando County begins with inattentive parents who leave a few more beers in the refrigerator than they can track.

Most underage drinkers are not buying alcohol or getting it from friends at school but finding it at home, said Hammond, the project director for the Hernando County Community Anti-Drug Coalition.

To combat this growing problem, the coalition is hosting a town hall meeting at 7 tonight at Weeki Wachee Springs. The aim is to get people talking about the alarming levels of underage alcohol abuse.

"We want to inform the public about the severity of the problem, " said Hammond. "We would like our leadership in the county to either identify what's being done, or come up with some solutions on what can be done."

The forum features a panel of Hernando Sheriff Richard Nugent, County Commissioner Diane Rowden, School Board member Sandra Nicholson, and Elizabeth Callahan from the Hernando Health Department.

While the organizers hope teens turn out, they mainly want to help parents be more vigilant about stopping underage drinking before it begins, Hammond said.

A study conducted among students in Florida high schools and middle schools last year showed the county had a larger rate of underage drinking when compared with the rest of the state.

The survey of 537 Hernando County high school students conducted by the Florida Department of Children and Families reported that 47 percent had consumed alcohol in the previous month. The statewide average is 41.8 percent. The survey of high school students had a 6 percent margin of error.

Twenty percent of the 601 middle school students reported having drunk alcohol in the previous 30 days in the survey, with a 3 to 5 percent margin of error.

Nineteen percent of middle school students statewide reported using alcohol in the previous 30 days in the 2006 survey.

Hernando also scored at the lowest level in community "pro--social involvement opportunities" to keep kids away from alcohol, such as participation in sports or clubs.

Although alcohol is the drug that is most likely to be used by students, School Board member Jim Malcolm said that marijuana, which 14.8 percent of students in the survey reported using in the previous 30 days in 2006, poses the bigger discipline problem.

"I'm not sure on a daily basis that we have an overwhelming problem, " Malcolm said. "You'll see that marijuana use seems to be a bigger reason that students are expelled from school than alcohol abuse. We have had a couple of cases where the youngster has been expelled for the distribution of alcohol."

Austin Bogues can be reached at abogues@sptimes.com or at 352 754-6117.

[Last modified June 27, 2007, 20:21:04]