Kids drinking in middle school, study shows
Rachel Cavanaugh
News Editor
Kids are drinking alcohol at younger ages in Klickitat County than many people realize, local experts said this week.
Moreover, consumption is more rampant and occurring in greater quantities than in years past.
Deidre Duffy, a substance abuse prevention specialist in White Salmon, said parents are often surprised to learn their kids in Goldendale, Lyle, Klickitat, Wishram, and neighboring communities are starting to drink as early as middle school.
“There’s a big leap from sixth to eighth grade,” she said. “That’s an important thing for parents to look at. They’re getting involved earlier.
“A lot of parents wait until kids are in high school to even think about it and it has already started.”
The counselor, who is organizing a Goldendale alcohol awareness meeting this month, said kids obtain alcohol in a variety of ways, from older siblings to open liquor cabinets or supermarkets.
In a survey at Goldendale Middle School conducted by the Washington State Department of Health, 16.2 percent of the eighth graders questioned rated alcohol as “very easy” to obtain.
Of those, 48.6 percent said they had tried a full alcoholic drink at some point in their lives and 11 percent admitted to having been “drunk or very high” in the last 30 days.
Klickitat County numbers for the 2006 survey were higher than statewide where only 37.6 percent of eighth graders said they had tried alcohol.
Duffy said she thinks part of the problem is acceptance within the community. Many adults, she said, view youth drinking as a rite of passage, yet each family has a different definition of when that’s okay.
She said community norms are one of the biggest deterrents and it is important for people to decide what message they want to send. Talking to kids is the best way to get information.
After a White Salmon forum earlier this month, for example, there was a panel of local kids fielding questions. Afterwards, she said, one student said he was surprised no one asked how they get alcohol. He said there is a supermarket known among kids to sell to minors.
She said communicating with kids and asking questions is imperative.
“The kids are the best sources.”
According to the US Department of Health’s substance abuse division (SAMHSA), kids who start drinking before age 15 are five times as likely to develop alcohol dependence or abuse in adulthoods as those don’t start until they are 21.
Moreover, there is an overwhelming link to crime.
Klickitat County juvenile probation counselor Bill Dressel, who deals with offenses ranging from burglary to assault to sex crimes, said 18 of the 25 juvenile cases he has now involve substances. Even that number, he said, is low.
“I’d say normally about 90 percent of my cases are related to substances in one way or another. If not with the crime directly, it’s involved in the person’s life.”
Candi Wing, coordinator for the Klickitat County juvenile diversion program, said 34 kids were cited with alcohol and marijuana last year. That number, she underlined, does not represent total kids drinking.
“There are…a lot of parties where kids aren’t getting caught but that doesn’t mean they’re not using,” she said.
According to Duffy, studies show girls are drinking more and more heavily than in the past and Dressel said there has been a shift in what children are drinking.
“We’re starting to see some of these drinks that look just like a sports caffeine drink but are malt beverages,” he said. “These drinks have a tendency to be six or eight percent alcohol and they don’t taste like beer, they taste like fruit punch.”
This, he said, is dangerous in two ways: First, the sweeter taste makes easier to consume in large quantities. Secondly, the design, which mimics and a soda or energy drink, can make it tough for adults to spot.
“A kid could be walking down the street with the two cans and I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference, to tell you the truth,” he said.
Although alcohol-related crime numbers are more or less the same throughout the county, he said, slight increases are seen in outlying communities like Lyle, Wishram, and Klickitat.
The juvenile counselor said it is unclear why the small spikes exist in those regions.
“Sometimes we wonder if maybe it isn’t tolerated more.”
At present, Duffy said, underage drinking is the number one killer of teenagers nationwide. Binge drinking is often a culprit.
At the Goldendale Middle School, 10.8 percent of the eighth graders surveyed said they had engaged in binge drinking, defined as more than five drinks in a row, in the last two weeks, and 8.4 percent reported being drunk at school.
Duffy said new research is indicating the long-term impact on brain development of binge drinking may stretch up to age 26.
“That’s scary,” she said. “When you add that to the stupid things you do when you’re drunk. When you add to that the harm to the brain, the hormones already going on at that age.”
Goldendale’s meeting, scheduled for April 29, is part of a US Surgeon General’s call-to-action. Throughout April, designated as Alcohol Awareness month, more than 1500 town hall-style meetings will take place nationwide.
Duffy said the point is twofold: First, to help people understand the scope of the problem and secondly to strategize solutions.
“It’s about, ‘What are we going to do to make it clear we’re not accepting this?”
“The time is right for Goldendale. There seems to be a strong sense of, ‘let’s make this community a strong place.’”
The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. at Goldendale’s PUD building.
Vandals hit gravestones of historic pioneers
Gravestones of famous Klickitat County pioneers have been toppled in a wave of recent vandalism at Goldendale’s Mt. View Cemetery.
Almost 40 historical grave markers were vandalized in the pioneer section of the cemetery.
According to Richard Lefever, who is involved in a project trying to restore the gravestones, some of the more fragile pieces have been damaged beyond repair.
“Many of these headstones are over 120 years [old],” he said.
Some of the headstones, the Goldendale man noted, belonged to prominent figures in the county’s history that appear on the courthouse lawn’s pioneer monument. Many were key players in developing Klickitat County before Goldendale was a city or Washington a state.
“One hundred years ago families maintained their own plots, but a century later there are no family descendents remaining in the area,” Lefever said. “Genealogy is at an all-time high so a lot of family history will be lost if these monuments aren’t repaired.”
Lefever said cemetery maintenance today is funded by perpetual care, meaning when one buys a lot, they also pay a fee to have the grounds maintained forever. The cemetery — one of about 50 in Klickitat County — is currently operating on a limited budget.
The local International Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF), who purchased the grounds in 1891, received the pioneer section along with it. No provision for care came with the purchase and the IOOF has tried to improve the pioneer section each year.
Damage might have gone unnoticed had it not been for a group of locals taking daily morning walks.
Since then, Lefever has been gathering funds and support to try to fix the headstones by Memorial Day. He is also calling on volunteers to help with some of the work and lifting.
“Most people enter a cemetery and only see headstones with no personal attachment,” said LeFever. “At one time there was a real person with a story behind every grave.”
“Let’s save what we can for future generations.”
Fourth jumps into congress race
Rachel Cavanaugh
News Editor
Another candidate plans to enter the congressional race for Washington’s Fourth District.
Democratic hopeful John Gotts, who said he will make his announcement official next week, told reporters he believes he has a solid chance at a seat.
The politician, who will join Tri-Cities attorney George Fearing and former Wenatchee radio personality George Moody in a square-off against incumbent republican Doc Hastings, sent a letter out to delegates Tuesday.
In it, he outlined a plan for key issues like livable wages, affordable food and fuel, education, and the environment.
“We have to create a solution for ourselves that is sustainable, long-term and of real value to all involved,” he said.
The Obama delegate emphasized he does not see the congressional race as a Clinton-Obama issue and noted he would support whichever candidate wins the nomination.
Top among his priorities, he said, will be to stimulate the “stalled Washington economy.”
“I would like to dedicate as much time as needed to helping make this or some similar realistic plan a reality and to answer your questions and wants,” he said. “When I am passionate about anything I give it 110 percent.”
Doc Hastings has held the Fourth District position since 1994. |
