The Lesson
Teresa Walters
Friday, September 14, 2007
THANK YOU, Patrick Kelley, for pointing out the lesson that the Magallanez trial should have made clear to all of us. It’s time for Emporia — and in particular, parents — to wake up!
The Magallanez trial made it graphically clear that drugs and alcohol were used to seduce some of our young girls. These girls were brave to come forward and testify so that other girls and their families might avoid similar experiences.
We need to be willing to learn from this situation. Each time a young person uses alcohol, it is because of an adult — adults produce and market it, an adult had to purchase it and an adult provided it to the minor.
How many parents and other adults, despite knowing about the Magallanez case, will agree to host a party with alcohol, or look the other way when it’s occurring on their property? How many parents will allow their child to go to someone else’s home without checking to see if alcohol will be served?
It is against the law for those under the age of 21 to consume alcohol, a law well supported by scientific research confirming that a young person’s brain — especially the frontal lobe, which controls decision making and risk taking — is not fully developed until the early-to mid-20s.
It’s time we stop relying on the adage, “We did it and we’re fine,” to justify allowing minors to drink. Instead of using this excuse, which has NO scientific basis, let’s agree to give our kids the chance we may not have given ourselves.
Don’t provide alcohol to youth, and do be vocal in letting other adults know that it is not acceptable in our community. No adult has the right to provide alcohol to minors and possibly forever change the lives of anyone’s kids.
Teresa Walters
Emporia