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Realities of underage drinking the topic of town hall meeting

By Michele Leung

Preston Becker told a crowd of parents, education administrators, city leaders and community members that even good students with healthy extracurricular activities can have an unhealthy reliance on alcohol.

Becker, a 1994 Los Gatos High School graduate, was one of the panelists at a May 1 town hall meeting that aimed to educate the community about the realities of underage drinking. The meeting, held at McAfee Center at Saratoga High School, was organized by SHIFT, a coalition of community groups whose goal it is to curb underage drinking in Los Gatos, Monte Sereno and Saratoga.

Becker said he participated in high school sports and student government and went on to UC-Berkeley. However, he also had a casual attitude toward alcohol.

"I was drinking constantly in high school," he said to a crowd of almost 90.

Becker began drinking in his freshman year. He blacked out once at a friend's house after drinking some tequila and had alcohol poisoning during his junior year. But he was hardly alone, he said.

"The behavior was not uncommon for the crowd I hung out with," he said.

Leaders of the SHIFT coalition hope they don't have to hear more stories like Becker's. SHIFT received a three-year $224,000 grant from Santa Clara County Department of Alcohol and Drug Services to study how to control teen drinking. The Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District was the only district to receive money, which leaders say is significant because affluent areas are more prone to substance abuse among teens.

"Change only happens when a group of community people get together and do it," said L.D. Hirschklau, one of the leaders of the coalition.

Hirschklau told the crowd about the misconceptions teens have regarding their peers and drinking. Through surveys and focus groups done at both high schools, those collecting data found the typical drinks of choice among many teens are sodas and water, skewing the perception high school students typically have. According to survey results, students said they thought more than half of their peers at school drink alcohol when they're with their friends.

While Hirschklau said those who drink are in the minority, she added that almost two-thirds of students who do drink participate in binge drinking.

The next project the coalition will tackle is its two-pronged approach to change attitudes and behavior. It will launch a campaign in December to educate teens and the community about shifting their perceptions of underage drinking to better reflect reality. In addition, in March, the group will start its efforts to reduce youth access to alcohol. But she cautioned the crowd not to expect immediate changes.

"The shift in tobacco use took 30 years," she said.

For Los Gatos parent Joanne Peth, it was reassuring to find out not as many students drink as she had heard.

"It's good to hear and to tell our kids," said the mother of five.

The meeting also attracted some people from outside the community. Debbie Ramirez of San Jose said she heard about the town hall meeting from her San José City College teacher, from whom she is taking a class to be a drug counselor. Ramirez said she had traditionally allowed her two children, a 17-year-old and a 15-year-old, to have some alcohol at special holidays, like Christmas and New Year's, but no more.

"They are being introduced at a young age," she said. "I didn't realize how much we promote alcohol."

For more information on the coalition, visit www.SHIFTCoalition.org.