Teens Urged To Avoid Booze, Beer: Report

CLINTON TOWNSHIP, MI — With the arrival of prom season and graduation parties, parents and teachers are urging high school students to steer clear of alcohol. And in a recent forum at the Clinton Township Police Department, community leaders talked with a group of teenagers from Dakota and Chippewa Valley high schools about the dangers of alcohol abuse, according to a media report.

Speakers at the April 18 event included U.S. Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich., along with Clinton Township Police Chief Fred Posavetz, Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith and Charlene McGunn, executive director of the Chippewa Valley Coalition for Youth and Families, the Fraser-Clinton Township Chronicle reported.

McGunn told the gathering that a state survey found a decline among teens in alcohol use, including binge drinking. Discouraging alcohol use among teenagers can prevent them from becoming alcoholics as adults, she said.

But two high school students at the forum said that alcohol is present and accepted at most parties, and many of their peers use social media to brag about drinking, the Chronicle reported. One student said that at several parties, the parents provided alcoholic beverages to the teens.

Posavetz, the police chief, discussed the legal ramifications for teens of underage drinking, ranging from misdemeanor convictions and fines to being rejected by colleges and universities.

After the forum, about a dozen high school students participated in an effort to remind retailers to avoid selling beer, wine and other alcoholic beverages to underage youths, according to the Chronicle. Several police cars took the teens to various stores in the area to carry that message; McGunn said the campaign reached about 50 local retailers.

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