Bishop - Community members discuss teen drinking in the 'boonies'

They say it takes a community to raise a child. But when it comes to Bishop and the topic of underage drinking, much of the community seems disinterested, or at least too busy to get involved.
In an effort to open community dialogue regarding hazardous boonie parties, where local youth regularly gather to drink, Inyo County Health and Human Services scheduled a town hall meeting earlier this week, but the loudest voice that could be heard was the silence as only 15 residents turned out for the discussion.

Inyo County Health and Human Services Tobacco Control Officer addresses 15 residents at a town hall meeting Tuesday. The group discussed the problems associated with drinking and brainstormed ideas on how to prevent teens from hitting the bottle. Photo by Mike Gervais

That discussion churned out some ideas on what the community can offer in regards to solving the problem of underage drinking, but also highlighted some of the problems concerned residents face, such as legal drinkers purchasing booze for kids and apathetic parents and community members.
Among those in attendance were three local students who voiced concerns about the drinking habits of their classmates, parents, grandparents and teachers.
The meeting’s moderator, Inyo County Tobacco Control Officer Karen Kong kicked things off with a few questions for the audience; why are you here? Who does underage drinking effect? and How do you change the community norm regarding underage drinking?
The few participants in the meeting were able to provide some insight into how the community feels about and deals with teenagers hitting the bottle.
They agreed that drinking among teenagers contributes to crime, vandalism, poor performances at school, traffic accidents and health issues, such as unwanted or unplanned pregnancy.
But when it came to fixing the problem, the group was able to delve deeper into concentrated dialogue.
Kong asked the participants in the meeting to consider how teens are accessing alcohol and how that can be controlled.
The consensus at the meeting was that much of the community does not consider underage drinking a problem.
“Who does it effect? Potentially everyone? But potentially nobody, right?” Kong said, noting that as long as residents don’t experience the negative effects of teen drinking first-hand, many will be reluctant to get involved.
“I think there are a lot of adults who see (underage drinking) as a right of passage,” one audience member said.
On that note, the discussion moved on to ideas on how residents could change that age-old “community norm” that says teenagers are supposed to party and drink.
“It usually takes a tragedy,” an audience member said, noting that as long as teens are drinking out of sight, it is out of the community’s collective mind.
But aside from a tragedy, community members said that one of the first steps residents can take to prevent local youth from drinking is to target the individuals who are providing teens with alcohol.
“I know all my friends have a buyer,” one Bishop Union High School student said. “and they’re 21 and they have no life,” she added.
“The group of teenagers that drink in this town is enormous,” another local student said. “Target the buyers.”
Kong noted that the average buyer for teens are males between the ages of 21 and 24.
Another concerned resident pointed out that on any given Friday or Saturday night young adults who are over the age of 21 can be seen purchasing large amounts of alcohol at Vons “and just passing it off to kids 100 yards away in the parking lot.”
To deter 21-year-olds from purchasing beer and alcohol for local teenagers, participants at the town hall meeting turned to Police Chief Kathleen Sheehan, who was the only law enforcement officer in attendance.
“Law enforcement, that’s one community piece that we can use to show them that we’re serious,” Kong said, noting that it will take more than just the cops to solve the problem.
“Next week at the Fourth of July, these people here can make a ripple there at the airport” by watching for underage drinkers and reporting them to authorities.
Another speaker on Tuesday was more pointed in his remarks, “I think the parents are all in denial and think their little darlings aren’t out there doing it.”
In order to deal with that problem residents at the meeting agreed that education is the best way to reach parents.
One resident suggested offering examples of the dangers of drinking in the form of a media campaign utilizing footage and scenes from traffic accidents involving drunk teens, or the stories of friends and family members who have been touched by the negative effects of drinking.
Another suggestion is for the school to begin outreach with parents early on. “At the freshman meeting with parents at the beginning of the year, it can be brought up there,” one resident offered, saying that if parents are made aware of the problem before it begins with their children, the message may sink in.
Even with all the dialogue brought up at the meeting, the reality was clear. “The community is conflicted at best, they have their blinders on and they want to have their blinders on,” one resident said.
In order to get the community more involved the group decided that a good jumping off point would be to draft a survey that could be administered throughout the summer to get a real look at the community’s feelings about underage drinking, and what measures residents would be willing to take to prevent the problem, such as creating non-drinking sections at the fair and at Mule Days, or appealing to local leaders for support on passing harsher punishments for drinkers who violate the law.
Kong said she would begin working on the survey and have it delivered to everyone in attendance at the meeting, as well as anyone else who is interested in getting involved in the fight against underage drinking.

(For more information on underage drinking, try these Internet sites: www.iihs.org/research/qanda/underage.html and www.StopAlcoholAbuse.gov -- The Editor)