Students take action against underage drinking

By Bobby Williams
Sherman High School

Mothers Against Drunk Driving has developed a new initiative to deal with underage drinking called Youth in Action.

True to its name, YIA organizes students in a community-based effort to raise awareness of the effects of alcoholism and underage drinking, and to educate the public about drinking laws and regulations. There are currently 43 YIA chapters in the United States, one of which was recently developed in Charleston.

Teens from throughout the region, including students from Kanawha, Boone and Putnam counties, gathered on Feb. 24 to address the development of this organization in West Virginia and receive training to implement YIA programs in their communities. Students learned about the organization and the “Three-Prong Approach” for establishing action plans, and also helped to conduct alcohol purchase surveys.

Alcohol purchase surveys are just one project that YIA chapters use to prevent alcohol sales to people under age 21. People over the legal purchase age attempt to buy alcohol without an ID. The catch is that their age is considered to be questionable, or that most people would think they look slightly under the legal purchase age.

If there is any doubt about the age of customers buying alcohol, store clerks are supposed to request identification. Survey results that show what stores ask for ID and what stores don’t are used to develop strategies for compliance checks.

Compliance checks are slightly different from purchase surveys because the buyer in a survey is actually of legal age. In a compliance survey, buyers are underage, but again considered to look differently — this time older than their actual age without the use of disguises. Local YIA chapters work with law enforcement officials to conduct these checks.

Under West Virginia law, anyone convicted of selling alcohol to people under age 21 may be fined up to $500 and imprisoned in a county jail for up to one year.

As its number-one project, YIA hopes to target stores that sell alcohol illegally. Students at the training session were divided into groups to conduct alcohol purchase surveys at various outlets in Charleston. Of the 42 places surveyed, 15 of them would have sold alcohol to the buyer without a license.

This shows that it may not be too hard for teens, some even as young as 15, to purchase alcoholic beverages in the city of Charleston, even without a fake ID. Apparently, for approximately one-third of Charleston’s stores, underage drinkers don’t need an ID at all.

Of course, underage drinking isn’t just a problem in Charleston. It happens across the nation. Last May, a YIA team in Nebraska conducted compliance checks in the city of Omaha. Three hundred retail establishments (convenience stores, package stores, and liquor marts) were tested, which is approximately one-fourth of all retail outlets licensed to sell alcohol in Omaha. The study showed a 19 percent noncompliance rate (60 of the outlets actually sold alcoholic beverages to minors without ID).

Besides compliance checks and purchase surveys, YIA teams across the nation work to prevent underage drinking and alcoholism through media advocacy and lobbying to create legislation or amend drinking regulations. Teams also raise awareness in their communities by developing information, performing anti-drinking presentations, and encouraging other teens to kick the habit.

For information about Youth in Action in West Virginia, contact Bill O’Dell by e-mail at shprevention@worldnet.att.net.