<p>I was joking about pumping the younger siblings for information. One of the boys loves my dog so he always comes out to visit when we are around. He is a very chatty 13 year old and was the one that told me where big sis was going to college; I hadn’t even mentioned college or his sister! </p>
<p>I don’t plan on talking to the mom about this unless she brings it up first. At this point it is really not my business. She is obviously aware of a party in her home where alcohol was served. If she was ok with that, I am not going to lecture her; we are not friendly enough for that. If this were a parent of a classmate of one of my children then I would be having “the talk.”</p>
<p>Under increasing strict alcohol laws targeting teens, parents can be held responsible for all sorts of things, whether they knew or not, or whether what they’re being held responsible for occurs off their property or not. Recently my state did pass tougher laws regarding parent liability and underage drinking. I am not sure many kids really know what they’re putting on the line if they’re not only under 21 but under 18 and messing around with this stuff. Most of the people I know seem completely unaware. It’s not a matter of being suspended, it can be a matter of their parents being sued for everything they have. They may have seen older kids get a slap on the wrist, but it seems like as traffic got worse in many places, etc, incidents stemming from underage drinking became more of a concern and tougher laws have been passed and tougher penalties handed out. I think most people would want to be aware of this. Just don’t accuse. I like Paying3’s idea of gently leading into it. Sympathize with them also, saying you know how teenagers are and you hope you can both look out for each other’s kids. Just state the facts of what you saw and say you hope they work it out and it was really nothing.</p>
<p>This has become a very hot topic in our suburb as there were two fatal accidents involving teenagers drinking and driving after leaving New Year’s Eve parties at homes withourt parents present. The police are now arresting parents if kids have parties that serve alcohol. Seeing that on the news sure is sobering, but as dke pointed out, many of these parents think it’s cool to allow these parties. There is actually some sort of party task force now that shows up at reported underage home parties, arresting any teens found possessing alcohol along with the homeowners. Having had several friends killed by drunk drivers, I’m all for this strict enforcement. Needless to say, I would have said something to the neighbor and I hope she would do the same if the roles were reversed.</p>
<p>A local HS junior, quarterback of the football team, had a one car accident Saturday night – alcohol, speed, and no seatbelt. They took him off life support a couple days ago. He was a popular kid, and the community is just devastated. While the family and community are grieving, the police are working hard to find out where he was just prior to the accident, and where the alcohol came from.</p>
<p>I told my D that I wish I could make hundreds of labels with his photo, birth and death dates, and stick them on the dashboard of every teenage driver around, so that the first thing they see when they get behind the wheel is a reminder that they are not invincible.</p>
<p>binx-unfortunately, these kids do think they are invincible. Yes, they will remember their friends/classmates that died, but the remaining kids will still think it won’t happen to them. We know of a good kid that received a DUI; he didn’t think he was “that drunk.” He and his friends behaved for a while, but in due time it was out of sight, out of mind. Unfortunately these kids believe that can drink without getting drunk and still get behind the wheel of a car.</p>
<p>In Florida, a parent is ultimately responsible/liable for any consequences of underage drinking that takes place on the property, whether the parent was home or not, whether the parent even knew about it or not. </p>
<p>If neighbors found empty beer cans or cases or bottles or any evidence of drinking at my home, and they had any worry what so ever that I was not at home or was unaware, I would want to be told.</p>