Underage Drinkers? Just Say Stop.

Coalition Will Target Enablers With 'Sticker Shock' Campaign

Later this month, teams of Alexandria high school students and parents will fan out across the city to dissuade adults from buying alcohol for minors.

They will do it with a stop sign.

Marching into about 50 participating grocery stores and other retailers, the crusaders will affix red stop sign-like stickers to thousands of packages of beer, wine coolers and other alcoholic beverages, warning that anyone 21 or older who buys or provides alcohol for minors faces up to a year in jail.

"Prevent underage drinking!" the stickers urge.

The exercise, known as "sticker shock" and run by the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, is the kickoff event for a task force that is taking an aggressive approach to curbing illicit drinking and drug use among Alexandria teens.

As the school year gets underway, the Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition of Alexandria hopes to convince students, parents and school officials that drinking and drug use among teenagers can only cause harm.

"Our message is delay, delay, delay," said Cate Alexander-Brennan, the task force's chairwoman and mother of a T.C. Williams High School senior. "Delay the onset of drinking until the legal age and completely avoid the use of illegal drugs. There is no data to support that responsible drinking by teens is even possible given their level of maturity.''

The coalition will be officially launched Sept. 29, when Mayor William D. Euille (D), the honorary chairman, will host a brief ceremony in Old Town. But the about 30 members of the coalition already are trying to get parents to face some hard truths.

Alexander-Brennan said her initial research shows that Alexandria parents often provide the alcohol for parties and rituals such as the "beach week" trips. "These are booze-sodden activities. These are parent-sponsored activities, and the parents are supplying the alcohol," she said. "That was astounding to me. Many parents think there is no way to stop it, that there is nothing to do about teen drinking except condone it and try to manage it.''

Amina Uwwais, a T.C. Williams junior and cheerleader who works with the coalition, said parents not only are supplying the alcohol, "they are drinking with their kids, at home, at parties or outside. The kids are, like, 'Can I try it?' '' and the parents are, like, 'There's nothing wrong with that.' ''

Alexander-Brennan also is taking on the school system, saying it offers no substance-abuse curriculum or awareness activities during the school day after ninth grade. "We hope to see progress in that area," she said. "I don't think this is all the schools' responsibility -- it's a community responsibility -- but the schools are an important part because the law requires kids to go to school. That's about the only place you know you're going to find them."

Alexander-Brennan added that the school system, which has several members on the coalition, has been "very responsive."