By Danny Teigman
As keynote speaker at a Coalition to Prevent Underage Drinking's "National Town Hall Meeting" Monday night, Rice described for the audience of about 100 people how her nephews, ages 16 and 17, casually asked for a beer at her mother's funeral a few weeks ago. "Don't you know who I am and what I do?" she said. Such stories, according to Coalition Coordinator Judi Vining, illuminate just how endemic drinking is to our culture.
The meeting, held in City Hall and organized by the Coalition and the Long Beach Medical Center, highlighted some disturbing statistics, from both the City of Long Beach and the nation at large. A DVD presentation revealed that teens most often obtain alcohol at home. Many take their first drink with friends as early as age 9 and 10 years.
"Long Beach is ahead of the curve," said Vining. Forty-one percent of local eighth-graders, 45 percent of ninth-graders and a staggering 63 percent of 11th-graders reportedly consumed alcohol in the last 30 days.
Rice told the crowd that one of the first policy goals she hopes to meet is to toughen DWI and other alcohol-related laws by increasing enforcement, educating the community and reducing teens' access to alcohol. Assistant District Attorney Maureen McCormick will be the point person in Rice's plan, speaking to high schoolers and college students about destructive decisions.
Vining stressed that underage drinking is an adult problem. "Any time there is a young person drinking, an adult must be involved, either selling, providing, condoning or simply looking away," she said. Making her job even more challenging, she added, is the image of Long Beach as a "party community" in which some 69 places of business are licensed to sell alcohol. It is even available at Subway, a place where teens frequently hang out and buy lunch, Lt. Michael Tangney, a co-founder of the coalition, reminded the audience. "Alcohol is more popular than chewing gum," Tangney said.
In the follow-up question-and-answer session, residents asked what, specifically, the school district and the city plan to do to about the city's image and its teens' behavior. Long Beach High School Principal Nicholas Restivo explained that the school has a staff of two social workers, two psychologists and a drug and alcohol counselor. All must be consulted in mandatory meetings if a student is suspected of drinking or appears to be intoxicated on school grounds.
Resident Carol Kenny suggested that teens should have more social outlets like bowling alleys and arcades, and that the Recreation Center's teen center, where an estimated 60 to 80 kids hang out on Friday nights, be more aggressively promoted.
City Council President Lenny Remo fielded several questions and suggestions, ranging from an inquiry about the number of requests for variances made by restaurants wanting to serve alcohol to a suggestion that the parade route for the Hibernians' annual festival of St. Brendan the Navigator, commonly known as Irish Day, be reversed from east to west to west to east, taking it into the center of town and leaving West Beech Street open to vehicular traffic.
Thomas J. Evrard, a Roman Catholic deacon and the chaplain of the Long Beach Police Department, supported the parade's direction change, saying it was just as important to protect the community as it was to respect Irish Day's traditions. "In light of the parade's past history, we have to re-examine what exactly the day is for," Evrard said. "Is it secular, religious or about promoting the Long Beach community?"
Last Labor Day, Evrard said, he had to notify the police twice in two weeks about underage drinking at parties next door to his house. No parents were home at the height of the parties, he said, but as many as 50 kids were present.
"There is a definite epidemic with not only alcohol but drugs as well," Evrard said. "I think it's important that at least there is a dedicated group of people who are actively pursuing a solution to the problem."
Comments about this story? DMiller@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 213.
