May 1, 2008 8:30 pm US/Eastern
Teens Face Expulsion For Drinking In School
ROCKVILLE, Md. (WJZ) ―
Several Montgomery County students are facing possible expulsion after they were caught drinking alcohol in the school gym.
It's another case of underage drinking, but as Kelly McPherson reports, the age of the students could be a sign of a dangerous trend.
At 7:30 a.m., nine students were drinking a liquor-wine cocktail inside the Redland Middle School in Montgomery County.
Their principal says the 6th and 7th graders smelled like alcohol when she found them in the gym.
"The alcohol came from other students' homes. As I say, they did very discreetly pour them into water bottles and soda bottles to bring it to school," said Carol Weiss, principal of Redland Middle School.
Police arrived at the school to hand out citations to the five girls and four boys for underage drinking.
All of the negative attention has put a spotlight on a growing problem.
"I just think it opened up a discussion with the kids. My son wasn't involved, but it was another opportunity to talk to him about it, let him know it's out there and to be aware," said parent Chris Miller.
It's not just happening in Rockville, it's happening all over. And the real issue is that this is happening with younger and younger students.
A recent CDC study of 12-20-year-olds found that 28 percent of them had been drinking.
Nineteen percent admitted to binge drinking, 44 percent of eighth graders said they had been drinking within the last 30 days.
"This has to be a wake-up call for parents to realize this is happening in our schools. What we're seeing pre-teens-- 6th and 7th graders-- who are emulating the behavior of teenagers who are in high school, who are emulating college students. and they're all drinking alcohol," said Mike Gimbel with Sheppard Pratt Health.
"By example, too. We don't have alcohol in our house unless we're having a party or socializing. It's not a daily presence in our house, and I think that helps, too," said Jackie Koehn.
"You never know when these kids are going to get curious or try to do what these young kids do and that's try to be older than they really are," said Gimbel.
Talking about the consequences of underage drinking is often the first deterrent.
The students who brought the alcohol in from home face expulsion. The others who were drinking face suspension. They all face fines from police.
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