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There have been, in last few months, a proliferation of news articles about high school athletes getting in trouble with alcohol. At the end of last spring it was members of the State Champions from West Genesee, who, allegedly had a post season party that included alcohol. "Alcohol use remains extremely widespread among today’s teenagers. More than three out of every four students (77%) have consumed alcohol (more than just a few sips) by the end of high school; and nearly half (44%) have done so by 8th grade. In fact, more than half (60%) of the 12th graders and a fifth (20%) of the 8th graders in 2004 report having been drunk at least once in their life." The full report is available here.Columbia University has also been studying teen issues for a number of years and suggests that alcohol is readily available and often right at home: “Teens have easy access to alcohol. Parents are too often unwitting co-conspirators who see underage drinking and occasional bingeing as a rite of passage, rather than a deadly round of Russian roulette. · One third of sixth and ninth graders obtain alcohol from their own homes. · Children cite other people's homes as the most common setting for drinking. (report here)In two of the three incidents above, parents were, allegedly, present and/or hosting the parties. How many of us have heard, “I took their keys, so they would be safe” or “It’s ok with me because they’re doing here at home”? So what is to be done? Well, first, we cannot simply give up the notion that teenagers should abstain. The evidence is overwhelming that young people should not use alcohol as a drug. Every thinking leader knows from the insurmountable amount of data that the use of alcohol is inconsistent with our educational goals in high school athletics. We must remain steadfast in our resolve to enforce rules. As coaches we are constantly teaching players about rules. We teach game rules. We teach young people rules of conduct. We teach them rules for getting along with teammates, and so on. Teaching them that there are consequences for not following rules can be valuable as well. What we must understand at the same time is that short of consistent testing for alcohol, our teams are going to have players who choose to break the laws and the rules. We must face the issue straight on, make our policies clear and follow through in spite of the pile of lawsuits that will almost certainly follow. What do you think? |
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Coach Wilson can be reached at  |
This fall, one Section Five team suspended almost a hundred players for breaking a district rule that prohibits athletes from be in the presence of alcohol. A number of team contests were forfeited because there were not enough players left to play the games. Another Section Five team followed suit less than a month later, and ended up playing games with JV players in order to meet their schedule commitments.