What La Jolla Teens Say About Underage Drinking

While local teens celebrate the end of the school year, county officials are warning that this rush of unsupervised free time could open the floodgates on underage drinking—something six out of 10 San Diego high school juniors admitted to doing.

"Alcohol is often easily available to minors—they get it from older friends, strangers willing to buy it for them, store clerks who fail to check IDs, the internet, their friend’s parents and even their own parents," county officials said in a news release.

"Underage drinking is not a rite of passage. It’s dangerous. Giving alcohol to a minor can lead to criminal penalties, or worse, the loss of a loved one," said Alfredo Aguirre, director of the county Health and Human Services Administration's Behavioral Health Services.

According to the latest California Healthy Kids Survey, 70 percent of San Diego Unified School District 11th-graders said alcohol is easy to get. While the majority of high school freshmen said they'd never had a full drink, about six out of 10 juniors said they'd had—and most had downed four or more drinks in their lives.

Sometimes, all of those drinks come at once.

About one in five juniors, and 14 percent of freshmen, admitted to binge drinking five or more drinks in a row within the 30 days before the survey. 

Underage drinking appears to become an issue for San Diego teens at the tail end of middle school and the beginning of high school. In the survey, 44 percent of 11th grade students said they'd had their first full drink between the ages of 13-16.

County officials said parents can play a critical role in preventing their children from drinking this summer, and help themselves avoid fines (up to $1,000) and jail time (six months) for breaking social host ordinances and providing alcohol to minors. About half of San Diego ninth- and 11th-graders said they had talked to the parents about the dangers of alcohol or drug use, according to the California Healthy Kids Survey.

Nearly 300 social host citations have been issued over the past few years, county officials said.

Here are some tips from the county for parents to prevent underage drinking this summer. Share your tried-and-true parenting wisdom in the comments, too!

Stay Involved: Show your children you care by spending time with them and doing something fun and interactive together.

Communicate: Regardless of the season, it is always a good to talk to your children about the dangers of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs.

Set Rules: Establish clear rules regarding your expectations on drinking, as well as on unsupervised time spent with friends.

Supervise: This can be challenging especially for parents of high school students; however, be physically present when you can. When you can’t, ask a neighbor, relative or friend to check on them.

Monitor: Know what your children are doing and where they are at all times. Randomly call and text them.  

Engage: Help your children set some structure during summer by helping them find a summer job or engaging them in supervised activities, such as sports, camps and classes.

Team Up: Get to know the parents of your children’s friends. Make sure they feel the same way you do about underage drinking.

If you have a tip about an underage drinking party, you can call the Crime Stoppers Anonymous Tip Line 24 hours per day at 888-580-8477. You could be eligible for up to a $1,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

Parents who suspect their child might have a drinking problem are encouraged to call the County of San Diego Access and Crisis Line at 888-724-7240 or 211.