The wrong thing

Ruth Holladay, the Indianapolis blogger who used to be a columnist for the Star, thinks everybody should quit picking on Jack Trudeau:

Robert Annis of the Star is reporting that Jack Trudeau has denied serving alcohol to teen-age guests at the recent Park Tudor graduation party he and his wife hosted at their Zionsville home.

And I believe him. Based, of course, on my own experience.

[. . .]

So the little angels sneaked the booze in themselves. As I said before, punish the kids, not Mr. T. But is it really that big a deal? The kids were not driving; nobody was even taken to the hospital for alcohol poisoning, for Godsake. This was a non-event, and shame on zealous Boone County law authorities for being all over it. The media also gets a black eye for sensationalizing it at every step of the way.

But open containers of booze were found, and a lot of the kids there tested positive for alcohol. And when police arrived, Trudeau was out front with a clipboard, collecting kids' names and car keys. Those are exactly the actions of people who say, well, teens drink, so we just have to acknowledge that reality and help them to it with adult supervision:

Many parents have decided to take a realist's approach. They're throwing parties for their kids and their friends. They serve alcohol at these parties, but they also collect car keys to make sure no one drives home until the next morning. Their logic makes sense: The kids are going to drink; it's better that they do it in a controlled, supervised environment.

I have some sympathy for the libertarian sensibilities of that argument. Teenagers are struggling with adult choices while still coping with childish impulses. The more we "just say no" to them, the more they tune us out. Wouldn't it be more effective to enter their world and show them how to take risks more responsibly?

But, in the end, there is no right way to do the wrong thing. It will always be the adults' job to set limits for their children and keep reminding them of those limits. Underage drinking is a national catastrophe that parents need to fight, not be complicit in. If you host a drinking party for your teenage son or daughter, realize that you are telling them it is OK to make such choices. Just don't be shocked if they go off to Ball State and wander around drunk times four until they get killed by an inexperienced campus cop.

(An editorial on this topic will be on today's editorial page.)