A lesson in the dangers
of underage drinking

By Tom Waring
Times Staff Writer

Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett visited Delaware Valley High School-Bustleton on Friday to caution the students about the dangers of underage drinking.
Corbett, a former history teacher at Pine Grove Area High School in Schuylkill County, was part of a program called Girl Talk: Choices and Consequences of Underage Drinking.
The attorney general was joined by David Shulick, president of Delaware Valley High School’s board of directors, and Jennifer Curley, a representative of the Century Council, a national organization funded by America’s leading distillers to fight drunken driving and underage drinking.
Corbett urged the 15 students in a cramped classroom to avoid the wrong path of alcohol consumption. He told them they can lose their driver’s license if they are caught drinking and could later lose out on jobs if they have a drinking-related arrest on their record.
"Underage drinking is a problem. It can affect them not just now, but for the rest of their life," he said.
Corbett also mentioned that a drinking binge can cause fatal alcohol poisoning or lead to a driving death.
"That’s the ultimate wrong path," he said.
Corbett, a Republican from Allegheny County elected in 2004, is the third state attorney general to recently work with Curley, of the Washington, D.C.-based Century Council. She has also teamed with veteran Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and Marc Dann, who was Ohio’s attorney general until resigning last month amid a sexual harassment scandal.
The Century Council, founded in 1991 and chaired by former New York congresswoman Susan Molinari, offers a number of educational programs.
Girl Talk is designed to encourage mothers and their teenage daughters to engage in an ongoing dialogue about the dangers of underage drinking.
"Moms have the best influence over their daughters," Curley said.
Curley advised the girls not to begin discussing their drinking problem when they are drunk and need a ride home from a party.
"It’s better to start a dialogue now," she said.
The Century Council recommends that moms start the conversations early and conduct them often. The talks should begin when the girl is 11 and last beyond high school.
Moms can get tips by going to www.girlsanddrinking.org, while the young people can learn more at www.grltlk.org
The Century Council cites studies to show the need for its outreach.
According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the rate of underage drinking increases as children get older, from 2 percent among 12-year-olds to 57 percent among 20-year-olds.
In trying to convince young people about the ills of drinking, the Century Council talks about the negative effects on one’s brain, heart, lungs, liver, small intestines, pancreas and stomach.
For girls, there are increased risks for breast cancer and reproductive problems.
Surveys show that most girls know it is wrong to drink. Among the reasons they cite are the potential to make bad choices, become pregnant and drive drunk and the fact that it is against the law.
So why do girls take part in underage drinking? The same surveys show that they bow to peer pressure and the need to be cool and fit in with others. And 20 percent of moms consider underage drinking a natural part of growing up.
In an effort to reach moms and daughters, Corbett recorded a television and radio public service announcement with Julie Foudy, a retired soccer star who played in four World Cup tournaments and three Olympics.
The attorney general, understanding that young people like the freedom of driving, told the girls that they can lose their license for underage drinking, whether they are behind the wheel or not.
"It’s not a right to drive," he said. "It’s a privilege."
Shulick told the students about his mother Judith, who was killed in 1991 in an automobile accident at Grant Avenue and Krewstown Road. The teenage driver who went through a red light and caused the accident was never tested, but Shulick believes he was under the influence of alcohol.
The educator also reminded the girls about the Delaware Valley student who died last year in a one-vehicle accident on Red Lion Road. It is believed that alcohol might have played a part in the incident.
Shulick said underage drinking can cloud one’s judgment and lead to depression or death.
"There are a lot of consequences," he said.
Delaware Valley, at 13550 Bustleton Ave. in Somerton, is an alternative school that educates at-risks boys and girls.
Shulick said Girl Talk is just the kind of program that can have a positive impact on students.
"We’ll do anything and everything to show the kids how to be responsible," he said. ••
Reporter Tom Waring can be reached at 215-354-3034 or twaring@phillynews.com

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