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Kids talk, adults listen about underage drinking Sobriety checkpoints, party patrols, parental responsibility — adults have long set the agenda on combating underage drinking. Now a new initiative in Ramapo is asking teens for their input, an overdue step, high school students said. “Sometimes you address problems but you don't listen to the other side,” said Kamilah McShine, 17, a senior at Ramapo High School. “Sometimes, adults don't really listen to what kids think about the issues that affect us.” McShine is a member of the Ramapo High School Youth Advisory Panel, one of six such panels created in the past two months using money from federal and state grants geared to encourage youth involvement on safety issues, particularly underage drinking. She said she joined on the advice of classmate Joshua Louis, 17, who invited her to an advisory panel meeting after attending one himself. “I'm the type of person who likes to speak my voice,” Louis said. “I think nowadays teen drinking has gone to a whole new level from what it's been in the past.” Both Louis and McShine said many adults stereotyped teens, not realizing that many stayed away from alcohol and drugs. McShine said there were adults who refused to believe that some teens who drank might have deep-seated problems, preferring to believe they're just wild kids with time on their hands. Louis said few adults seemed to realize how available alcohol was to teens and how much drinking was expected in college. He said he was one of many students whose religious life kept them from stereotypical teen behavior, but few adults realized how strongly some students opposed drinking. “I think it's kind of good that students experiencing it right now have the opportunity to speak their minds about it,” he said. “I think it's a very great program. It lets the parents know, as well as the other adults who want to know, what we're thinking. I honestly hope they listen to us.” Stacey Starr, the programs' community coordinator, said Ramapo police received the two-year, $40,000 grant about six months ago. The money came through the state's Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services, which received money from the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. “It's aimed at enforcing underaged drinking laws, but it's aimed at adult responsibility toward underaged drinking. The thrust was toward adults,” Starr said. “We wanted youth involvement.” Part of the money, which will be paid in two equal installments, is being used to pay for additional police patrols during holidays, when more people tend to drink and drive. Patrols were already in place for Halloween and Thanksgiving; others are planned for Christmas, New Year's and the spring proms. Because the grants were given to Ramapo, the YAP programs were set up at the three town high schools — Ramapo and Spring Valley high schools in East Ramapo and Suffern High School in Ramapo Central. Many county high schools have chapters of Students Against Destructive Decisions and Varsity Athletes Against Substance Abuse, among other groups. The death several years ago of Emily Bushkin, a Suffern student who died in an alcohol-related car accident during school hours, sparked several community initiatives to address underage drinking, including Ramapo Rescuing Our Youth and the resurgence of the county's Mothers Against Drunk Driving chapter. This grant is part of those initiatives, Starr said. Eighth-grade students at Suffern, Pomona and Chestnut Ridge middle schools also have been invited to create YAPs, Starr said. As of last week, about 30 high school and 25 middle school students had joined the groups and begun talking about underage drinking. “The students join because here they have a voice,” said Randie Morgan, the guidance counselor who coordinates Ramapo High School's panel. “They definitely think there are problems in the community, although some of the kids feel underaged drinking isn't as common as all that. “They say, 'It isn't happening here.' But when we start to talk about it, they realize they all know someone who drinks,” she said. “They're all excited about it. They told me they don't feel they've gone to any group that's talked about it like this.” Three times since 1996, most of Rockland's fifth-, eighth- and 10th-grade students have participated in a countywide survey of alcohol, drug and tobacco use through the Parents Resource Institute on Drug Education. The PRIDE survey has shown a gradual decrease in alcohol use over the years, but Rockland children still abuse alcohol more often than their peers nationwide. According to the most recent survey, taken in 2001, 35 percent of eighth-graders and 58 percent of 10th-graders countywide said they had had an alcoholic beverage within the previous year, compared with 33.9 percent of eighth-graders and 52.9 percent of 10th-graders nationwide. In April, Starr said, the groups will meet for a Youth Dialogue Day, where police, educators, politicians and other adults will be invited. “Adults really don't know what the life of a kid in this community is like,” she said. “This is an opportunity for these students to voice their opinion on many different topics.”
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