Nonprofit group educates community about dangers of underage drinking
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Community forum Monday evening
MOBERLY -- Moberly Police Commander Kevin Palmatory says he deals with underage drinking almost on a daily basis.
"Is Moberly any worse than other communities? No it's not," said Palmatory. "But I think this is an issue that needs to be addressed."
Every community is concerned about underage drinking. But the results of a student survey show the number of teen drinkers in Randolph County is particularly high.
The number of arrests for underage drinking has gone up from last year in Moberly, according to police. They cite tougher laws and pro-active police work for the increase.
The 2006 report is from the nonprofit Prevention Alliance of Randolph County (PARC), a group that tries to prevent underage drinking. They're now working with the community to tackle the problem.
About 40 people attended a community forum Monday at the Moberly Municipal Auditorium. The event was organized by Toni Kliewer with the goal of educating parents and teens about the dangers of underage drinking.
"Nine-point-five million kids in our country are drinking under the age of 12," said Kliewer. "[Randolph County is] very typical and we'd like to change that."
Kliewer is the director for PARC. Their recent survey found the average age kids in Randolph County start drinking is 13.
"Surprisingly it's a huge problem," said Allison Bautista, 16, the junior class president at Moberly High School. While she doesn't drink, she says many in her class do.
"A huge percentage of the kids at our school do drink," said Bautista. "It's just a shocking amount. It's really sad."
According the study 36 percent of Randolph County teens are underage drinkers - that's one out of every three.
The report says drinking regularly before the age of 15 can make you five times more likely to become an alcoholic later in life. It's just one more reason organizers say education is so important.
"We're not trying to tell people you can never ever have a drink," said Kliewar. "We're just trying to teach people what's responsible."
