Most news stories about teens and alcohol typically involve death. However, most people don’t realize the original source of these young deaths. Parents who accommodate the teens by providing them alcohol do not think about the consequences such as poor health, injury, and death.$0$0A recent study by the American Medical Association reported that one-third of teens said it was “easy to obtain alcohol” from their parents. The small community of Powder Springs in Georgia recently experienced such a loss due to what were possible poor choices. On January 24, Garrett Reed, a 16-year old football player at Harrison High School crashed his car into an oncoming vehicle. An investigation by the police revealed that the mother of Reed’s classmate had provided the alcohol.$0$0The mother, Kecia Evangela Whitfield, was charged with the misdemeanors of reckless conduct and supplying alcohol to a minor. Whitfield was released from holding on a $10,000 bond and now awaits court in April. If convicted, she could receive up to a year in jail and thousands of dollars in fines.$0$0According to the Alcohol Policy Information System, a government website that records alcohol laws, states such as Virginia, Minnesota, New Mexico, and Georgia are among the ten that allow parents to give their child alcohol. The National Conference of State Legislatures provides that there are no age limits, as long as the minor is in their guardian’s home or a place out of view of the public. Still, it is illegal to give alcohol to the children of other parents.$0$0“I think that parents need to be parents, not friends,” said Creek sophomore Alex Hodgson. “Parents are supposed to help their children make good choices, not encourage bad ones.”$0The term “cool parents” is generally used to describe parents who are considered by other teens to be fun and easy-going. To some teens, a “cool parent” is one that is willing to supply their child or his or her friends with alcohol.$0$0A person in the state of Texas “commits an offense if they provide an alcoholic beverage to a minor.”  While distributing alcohol to a minor is against the law, word about how often it happens is taboo; it seems as if the only time the public receives information about the topic is after a fatal accident.$0$0Organizations like BACODA (Bay Area Council on Drugs and Alcohol) provide prevention programs that focus on keeping kids and teens away from alcohol. Youthworks, one of BACODA’s programs, works with the school districts to provide prevention education to students. High school students can receive specified services such as “intervention, screening and assessments, crisis intervention, indicate prevention counseling, referrals, and prevention education,” (www.bacoda.com/services/youthworks).$0$0Although it may be too late for Garret Reed, it’s not too late for others. Within Reed’s small community a volunteer group formed with the mission to “reduce teens’ access to alcohol.”  The group created a campaign called “Adults Who Host Lose the Most” to raise awareness of the dangers adults risk when they illegally provide kids with alcohol. For more information about substance abuse in our area, call BACODA at 281-212-2900 or go to www.bacoda.com.