WASHINGTON – “Find another way to bond with your child. Please.” Those are the words of a Bethesda high school principal sent in an email to parents who he says are hosting drinking parties for their kids.
“It’s really hard to fathom how some people are still making these poor decisions,” says Walt Whitman High School principal Alan Goodwin.
After hearing of multiple drinking parties last weekend hosted by parents of students, he sent an email to the parents’ listserv pleading with them to stop.
“All principals will have safety programs at their schools. They’ll have speakers, put up posters. They make appeals to parents and kids, but there’s still some people who don’t get it,” he says.
Goodwin is concerned his school will experience a tragedy like so many others have — a student losing his or her life while driving home drunk.
It’s not the first time Goodwin says he’s heard of parents hosting parties where teens can drink. When he’s confronted parents in the past, he says many tell him they host parties at their homes so their children won’t drink and drive.
“They use that rationale, they do this to keep their child safe. Well, they put others in jeopardy when they do this,” he says.
Goodwin reminds parents the potential fine they’ll face in Maryland if they’re caught is $2,500 per underage drinker.
Read the email in its entirety below:
“Parents, As we get close to another weekend, please do not host an underage drinking party as apparently some of you did last weekend. This must stop. The law says you can be fined a minimum of $2,500/underage drinker if the drinker(s) is at your residence and you are present. While the fine is steep, the stronger risk is that a teenager from your party will be injured or die either from excessive drinking or while in a car with a driver under the influence. Parents, find other ways to bond with your child. Please.”
