'These are your kids'

Town-hall meeting lets parents hear how alcohol puts teens at risk for rape, death, despair

A light turnout for Tuesday's town-hall meeting on underage drinking underscored the message from police, youth and addiction experts at the meeting.

Kalispell Police Chief Frank Garner recalled that a meeting on teen suicide packed the same room at the WestCoast Hotel at the Kalispell Center Mall.

"Teen drinking so often is such an underrated problem," he said.

Garner and other speakers said alcohol underlies the majority of suicides, rapes, assaults and deaths among the teenage and adult populations.

"As a police officer for 20 years, if it wasn't for drinking, I wouldn't have a job," he said.

Other speakers urged parents of teens and pre-teens to reject youthful drinking as a rite of passage in the Flathead Valley.

Dr. Richard Wise, medical director at Pathways Treatment Center, said alcohol kills more young people each year than all other illicit drugs combined. Wise pointed to the 11- and 12-year-old boys in Ronan who died from alcohol poisoning.

He said teenage drinking amounts to pouring a toxin on a developing brain. It may restrict learning ability, memory and the capacity for good judgment.

Wise recalled a conversation with a young alcoholic patient who said "Doc, all I want to do is get drunk, smoke weed and get hooked up."

He cited statistics from a Montana youth survey that found that 39 percent of the teens said it was acceptable for a boy to force sex if the girl is stoned or drunk.

"Teenagers do impulsive things," he said. "If you add alcohol, bad things happen."

Flathead County Undersheriff Mike Meehan recalled an incident from about two years ago when he responded to a one-vehicle rollover where alcohol was a factor.

"Lying in the snow, deceased, was a beautiful, 17-year-old girl," he said.

Meehan said he had to knock on her parents' door at 4 a.m. to deliver the news. He shares that experience when people tell him to let teenagers have their fun.

According to the undersheriff, the department uncovers four or five keg parties a week around graduation, and during the summer and fall.

One recent party attracted 600 teenagers. Yet the department got only one tip, which came from Flathead High School's resource officer Brett Corbett.

He had found out from the party's organizer, who thought he could convince law enforcement not to interfere since he had bouncers hired to stop drunk teenagers from driving.

According to Corbett, the festivities at the kegger included strippers available to those who purchased VIP tickets.

"These are your kids," he said. "I don't remember any parties where there weren't drugs available."

Corbett also related stories he has heard from high school girls who ended up having sex at drinking parties. He said he was surprised by one who remembered the exact date it happened to her.

"She said 'that's the date I lost my virginity,'" he said.

Corbett told another story about two girls who met two guys who gave them alcohol and marijuana. They ended up having sex and then switching partners.

"What's sad is both of these girls are in Kalispell Junior High School," Corbett said.

He said this is "a small fraction of what goes on."

Corbett also showed a video of a teenage party taped in North Dakota that graphically showed peer pressure as a young boy struggled over a bucket to drink multiple shots chased by cans of beer.

Forest Service law enforcement officer Billy Stewart confirmed Corbett's description of activities at kegger parties held in the local woods.

"It's just unbelievable what you find out there," he said.

Along with gathering eight to 10 garbage bags full of cans and bottles at each kegger, Stewart said Forest Service officials also gather up men's and women's undergarments.

He said that parental reactions vary from denial to embarrassment when they bring in their teenagers for interviews. Stewart described the shock on mothers' faces when the recognize their daughter's underwear.

He said the gatherings also damage public property with vandalism such as chopping up picnic tables for bonfires and tearing down bathrooms. Torn-down gates cost $1,000 to $2,000 to repair.

"That's all being paid for by the taxpayer," he said.

Teenage panelists Joan Talarico and Kiara "KiKi" Keith proved the star attractions at the town-hall forum if measured by the questions from parents after the presentations.

The girls described their addictions to alcohol and drugs from early adolescence. Their stories echoed the problems detailed by law enforcement and addiction experts.

Keith described her first exposure to alcohol at 13 at a party in her brother's room above the family garage.

"That same night, after 9 or 10 drinks, I was raped," she said.

Talarico said her descent into alcohol and drug addiction was a hardship on her family. She described how she got arrested when she refused to leave her best friend who collapsed from alcohol poisoning.

"Four other people just left her to die," she said.

The two advised parents to become involved in their children's lives to help them resist alcohol and drugs as quick fixes for teenage angst.

"I believe privacy is a privilege in your home," Keith said. "If they (teens) are abusing that privilege, take it away."

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com