Members of the Red Ribbon Week panel listen as Rochelle Schmidt answers a question Monday night at Emporia High School.
Parties with underage drinking are on the rise, a Red Ribbon Week panel agreed Monday, but being hosts to such parties could get adults in serious trouble.
Under a new state law, adults could face at least $1,000 in fines and up to a year in jail for “social hosting.” That applies whether the party took place in their home, on their land or even in a motel room they rented for the kids.
“It’s not just a parents’ law,” said Laura Miser, Emporia city prosecutor and a member of the panel. “If you are over 18 and you allow a party to be held, you are responsible for your property. If you’re over 18 and allow alcohol to be on the property and a 17-year-old kid sneaks in, you could be in trouble.
“It’s an adults’ law — not just a family law.”
The panel, held at Emporia High School’s auditorium before a light audience, was part of the Red Ribbon Week activities held each year by Emporians for Drug Awareness. During the week, schools emphasize the importance of staying drug- and alcohol-free.
The panel discussion was broadcast live on Cable One’s Channel 8.
Emporia police Officer Willie Turner was among the panel members who noted that more of the underage drinking is happening at house parties and private gatherings, areas less supervised than a bar or club. Law enforcement can still act but it has to know what’s going on, said Sheriff Gary Eichorn, another panelist.
“Many times, we find out the next day and that makes it harder to investigate,” Eichorn said. “If you see a party or have information that there’s going to be a party, we can deal with it ahead of time.”
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Red Ribbon Panel
Getting dealt with, by the way, can be pretty expensive for any minors caught in possession of alcohol. For example, a diversion in city court, which keeps an individual’s record clean after a first offense, costs $350 and requires that the person stay out of trouble for six months.
“That’s a pretty expensive beer,” Miser said.
In the big leagues of district court, it can get even costlier, with a number of less-than-pleasant options for those who break a court agreement. And arguments on whether it’s just to keep the drinking age at 21 don’t cut much ice with Lyon County Attorney Marc Goodman.
“I’ve quit arguing the philosophy of this,” said Goodman, a panelist. “The reality is, the Legislature passed a law that says you can’t do it. We don’t care what reasons you give us why you should be allowed to. A law is a law is a law. And that’s the only reason we need for why you can’t.”
One exception exists — parents can allow their own children to drink cereal-malt beverages (3.2 beer) but only if the parents are present.
“I am glad my son did not have that information when he was in high school because he would have asked,” said Cathy Terrell, a parent on the panel. “I could have handled it, but it would have been ugly.”
Although it is legal for parents to serve their children the beverage, Goodman said, it sets a terrible example.
“What other laws are you going to teach your child it’s OK to break?” Goodman said.
Meanwhile, it’s never OK for a parent to serve alcohol to someone else’s child. That’s furnishing to a minor and that’s always enforceable, party or no party.
Part of the problem, panelists agreed, is that alcohol has become such a ubiquitous element in society. Many gas stations sell beer, many festivals have a beer tent and as for football games and tailgate parties — well, where do you start?
“I’ve gone to K-State football games and you can’t walk anywhere without alcohol being served,” said panelist Joe Garmon, an enforcement coordinator for the state’s Alcoholic Beverage Control. “And you look at some of the kids and you know they can’t be of age.”
One question to the panel asked why drug- and alcohol-related suspensions were handled differently for athletes in the school district. The policy calls for an automatic suspension, Goodman explained, but that’s only possible if the activity isn’t tied to a grade. Any academic activity, such as band or orchestra, has to have due process.
One question from the audience hit a hot button, asking if a case were ever handled differently because of a family’s prominence in the community. Goodman responded forcefully that his office pursued every case the same way, regardless of last name, and if there were close personal ties, he would assign the prosecution to someone else.
“I had the attorney general’s office prosecute my oldest son and put him in the penitentiary, so I don’t favor anyone,” Goodman said.
Someone else asked whether kids were getting the cold, hard facts about drug and alcohol use. Indeed they are, said panelist Pam Kvas of Newman hospital — and unfortunately, not just from Red Ribbon exercises.
“I think we are seeing a growing number of young people who have had a close friend or a family member die in an alcohol-related accident,” Kvas said. “That’s pretty cold. And it’s pretty hard. And it’s something they’ll remember for the rest of their lives.”
Members of the panel were Pam Kvas, Newman hospital; Willie Turner, Emporia Police Department; Rosa Aranda, Emporia school district;
Nate and Cathy Terrell, parents; Eswin Rios, Friends in Faith; Kathy Weidner, Healing Hearts; Laura Miser, Emporia city prosecutor; Rochelle Schmidt, Mental Health Center; Joe Garmon, ABC enforcement coordinator; Marc Goodman, Lyon County attorney; and Gary Eichorn, Lyon County sheriff.
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