Despite the headlines, it isn't just Haddonfield

Teen drinking isn't new, and it needs to be controlled.

Michael Smerconish

 

There was a time I could walk into most of the bars in picturesque Lambertville, just over the bridge from New Hope, and greet people in the way immortalized on Cheers.

 

I knew their faces and their names. After all, we were also together in homeroom, gym class, and geometry.

 

They were my high school classmates, and we were able to avoid Pennsylvania's minimum drinking age (21) by driving just 10 miles to New Jersey, where the minimum was 18 - and even that sometimes seemed negotiable. I once got myself into quite a jam with fake IDs.

 

I'm not flexing my beer muscles. Nor am I proud of my exploits. When I think of those years, I'm just thankful for getting home safely on those nights spent over the bridge - and I worry about my three sons when they reach a similar age.

 

I was thinking about some of the indiscretions of my youth while reading about the continued troubles with teenage drinking in Haddonfield. The Inquirer's Melanie Burney last week reported that police broke up a party last month attended by at least 50 youths, most of them high school freshmen and sophomores. So far this year, there have been 63 juvenile arrests in Haddonfield, 22 of which were alcohol-related. That's already more than all of last year.

 

Apparently the bad behavior didn't end with the well-publicized incident last spring on Maple Avenue. That's where a party broke out after some parents left for the weekend, and local teens got out of control. Before it was over, someone defecated on the piano, and another sprayed the house with a Super Soaker filled with urine. Thirteen teens were charged, but they all got off easy. Significantly, only two apologized.

 

Haddonfield's dirty laundry continues to be a hot topic around Delaware Valley water coolers and in my world of talk radio. I note that many parents wish to believe there is something unique to Haddonfield behind the problem ("it would never happen in our town"), but Haddonfield's mayor disagrees.

 

"We're like any other community, not just in our area but across the nation. The surgeon general's call to action to prevent and reduce underage drinking is indicative that it is a problem that faces every community in the nation," Mayor Tish Colombi told me.

 

My experience tells me she is right. Many have voiced explanations as to what is driving the troubles, such as privilege, poor parenting and the role of defense lawyers. And I am sure there is truth in each. But there's another element left unsaid. So let me be first.

 

I did it, too.

 

No - not the piano, and certainly not the Super Soaker. But there is nothing new about high school kids getting together to drink. Among the things that have changed is the ease with which kids can start a party. As Colombi told me, "If you wanted to get together to experiment with drugs and alcohol, as we know happens in communities all across the nation, now with cell phones and instant messaging, with the flick of a button, you have 50 kids on your doorstep."

 

Yes, values are in decline. There is too much promiscuity in all of our lives. And households where both parents work - assuming there are two parents - don't provide the level of supervision we once had. Still, I see today's issue as one largely about enhanced communication. I'm reminded of one party I attended in my junior year of high school that did get out of control. To this day, that kegger is the subject of reminiscences among now-middle-agers in Central Bucks.

 

The enabling conditions were the same as they've ever been: Somebody's parents were away. But what was unique about the party I recall was the level of planning that preceded it. Fliers ("Xeroxes") were circulated at two cross-town high schools over the span of days. Everybody knew about it. No one wanted to miss it. And when 200-300 hormonally charged high-school students showed up in a cookie-cutter residential neighborhood, all hell broke loose: theft, vandalism, and loads of underage drinking.

 

I had the very limited good sense to leave when I saw a classmate using a Black & Decker drill to gain access to a half-keg of beer after a tap malfunctioned. The host - the kid whose parents had gone away - finally jumped in the family car and was rumored to have "headed west," no doubt knowing the fate that awaited him when his folks came home.

 

My point is that a week of publicity was all that separated that party from countless others I attended that remained under control. The usual circumstance was a last-minute call-to-party once somebody realized supervision would be lacking. Word of mouth determined the size of the party. That's one important thing that has changed. The size of today's bash no longer depends on getting the word through the single rotary phone most families then had. Now, cell phones and text messaging provide instant notice, instant networking.

 

I'm not condoning teen drinking, nor am I excusing lack of parental supervision. I have no intention of being the "cool" dad who looks the other way. Not only do the vandals in Haddonfield need to be punished, but also their parents need to feel the repercussions. In particular, whoever was responsible for the piano and the Super Soaker needs punishment and some therapy.

 

As for Haddonfield kids who get swept up into something ugly when they are looking to sip beer and hook up - a little perspective, please.

 

Michael Smerconish's column normally appears on Thursdays in The Daily News and on Sundays in the Inquirer's Currents section. Michael can be heard from 5:30 to 9 a.m. weekdays on "The Big Talker," WPHT-AM (1210). Contact him via the Web at http://www.mastalk.com.