Letting teens drink is illegal, parents warned

PROVO — It's not just a bad idea to supply your teenage daughter and her friends with wine coolers, it's against the law — and the Federal Trade Commission is sending out a reminder.

The national We Don't Serve Teens campaign is focused on educating every parent and adult — not just alcohol venders — about the irresponsibility and illegality of supplying alcohol to underage drinkers.

"We need to do everything we can to limit alcohol access to zero with our young people," said Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, who spoke Monday morning at the state-owned liquor store at 166 S. Freedom Blvd.

Several years ago, parent-sponsored alcohol parties became popular, Shurtleff said. Parents who were worried about their kids drinking and driving would invite teens to their house, supply the alcohol and take the car keys — doing what they thought would ensure their teen's safety.

"That's illegal," Shurtleff said. "It may be well intentioned, but you don't serve alcohol to kids."

Selling, offering to sell or furnishing any alcoholic beverage to a minor in Utah could mean a class B misdemeanor and the potential of six months in jail, according to state code.

Although 96 percent of parents say they don't want other adults providing alcohol to their teens without their permission, statistics show that 65 percent of teens get their alcohol from family and friends, said Erik Strickland with the Century Council, a nonprofit group of distillers fighting underage drinking and drunken driving.

The group is working alongside the FTC to plaster the country in black, red and yellow campaign stickers sporting the We Don't Serve Teens logo.

The national campaign — Sept. 10-21 — coincides with back-to-school to remind parents that teen parties, sports celebrations and school dances should never include alcohol.

"The new (public-service announcement) stresses to adults that they don't have to see it to know it's happening," Strickland said. The PSAs will go out on television, radio and in newspapers and magazines.

"Parents turning a blind eye is just as irresponsible as putting a drink in their hands," Shurtleff says in the radio PSA. He also encourages parents to talk to their teens.

The campaign is supported by the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

"We're all doing our part to stop underage drinking, but this must be a community effort," said Mary Ann Mantes, department commissioner. "Education is the key to controlling and hopefully eliminating the dangers of underage drinking."

Underage drinking is prevalent, officials said. "We need to do more," said Chris Kennedy, with the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America Inc. "And we promise we're going to do more, to make sure products stay in the hands of those who will use them responsibly and legally."

For more information, visit www.dontserveteens.gov.

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E-mail: sisraelsen@desnews.com