IT STARTS AT HOME: UNDERAGE DRINKING WAR NEEDS PARENTS

Despite a culture that has become heavily saturated in alcohol, awareness
of the chaos caused by underage drinking has heightened significantly in
recent years.

The good news is that many parents are less likely to wink and look the
other way when it comes to kids who consume alcohol, according to a survey
conducted by the University of New Hampshire.

A survey of Granite State residents has found that most of the respondents
support a crackdown on underage drinking. And they back tougher penalties
against adults who supply the alcohol to kids.

Certainly, the results of the survey are heartening. The numbers show us
that most adults seem to believe underage drinking is not a game anymore,
nor is it a teen-age rite of passage or a peccadillo.

Most adults, according to the survey, see underage drinking for what it
really is -- illegal in the state of New Hampshire and a killer of young
people on our highways.

The survey, initiated by New Futures, a group formed by the New Hampshire
Charitable Foundation to reduce alcohol, tobacco and drug problems in the
state, shows that 82 percent of the 511 adults who responded believe the
legal drinking age in the Granite State should not be lowered.

Eight-five percent of these adults said they support harsher penalties for
adults who furnish alcohol to people under age 21.

The same majority of adults also said they would be willing to support a
five-cent tax per drink to pay for prevention programs and alcohol
treatment programs for minors.

The survey seems to suggest serious concern about teen-age drinking and
drunken driving.

The adults seem ready and willing to do what it takes to make sure booze
doesn't end up in the hands of our children.

But how old do you have to be before it's all right to get drunk?

Sixty percent of the respondents said that getting drunk is not appropriate
at any age, according to the survey.

Here lies the contradiction that overshadows all this enlightenment
revealed by the survey.

If 60 percent -- just over half the adults -- believe drunkenness is
inappropriate, what does the remaining 40 percent believe about their own
drinking behavior? What does this say about how they are teaching their
children at home about using alcohol responsibly?

The state Legislature has recently enacted several laws to increase the
penalties against underage drinkers and the people who supply the booze for
them.

And several local communities have cracked down very successfully on
merchants who sell liquor by conducting stings to root out the habitual
offenders.

The cities of Dover, Rochester and Somersworth have all experienced a
steady increase in compliance among the retailers in those cities by
consistently monitoring who is selling to minors and who is not.

However, when it comes to bringing up children, leading by example is more
powerful than the force of law for anyone who is serious about waging a
successful war against underage drinking.

It's difficult to get the right message across to children who see alcohol
at every family function, no matter how large or small, and parents and
relatives who party it up too hardy at these gatherings.

Parents who find themselves relying on society's rules to keep their
children in check are themselves in for their share of trouble.

Unfortunately for them, they have squandered their best opportunity to
teach their children at a young age about healthy and responsible choices.

If we are relying on society to teach our children about drinking, we're
going to lose the war.

Drinking habits are not shaped positively when teen-agers get arrested for
trying to buy liquor using phony identification. They've already been cast
in a mold labeled, "This is OK just don't get caught."

The tragedy is that too often the mold breaks only when the youngster's
body is extricated from a wreck in front of a tree along a highway.

Compliance with the state liquor laws begins at home with parents who
themselves are sober and treat alcohol with respect.