Tell me if you’ve heard this one, “I’d rather they drink at home, so at least I know they’re safe.”

The News Tribune wrote a great article about parents who let teens drink at home, which was brought to my attention by Glenna Younkin. She’s the coordinator for the Orchard Middle School Youth Alcohol Prevention Coalition, a group trying to reduce teen drinking by targeting parents, social norms and access.

The Trib cited three examples in one night:

It’s a traditional rite of parenthood to worry that teen children will drink alcohol at parties. But what if it’s a parent who provides the booze?

Authorities allege that’s what happened at three parties in Pierce County on Nov. 1, the Saturday after Halloween. And they don’t want to see a repeat during the Christmas holidays.

• Charging papers allege a mom served alcohol-laden Jell-O shots to minors at a costume party in her University Place home; watched the teens down the shots, vodka and beer; and let juveniles play “beer pong” in the garage. The mom, Ramona Leppell, 52, has been charged with furnishing liquor to minors, and is on administrative leave from her University Place School District job as a school bus driver.

• In Spanaway, deputies report that several dozen teens attended a goodbye party thrown by a couple, ages 35 and 36, for their 18-year-old son, according to Pierce County sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer. Some of the minor partygoers reportedly drank beer and hard liquor, Troyer said. Bethel High School suspended 32 students from athletics or activities for drinking or remaining at a party where alcohol was served, a Bethel School District spokeswoman said.

• In Tacoma’s West End, about 20 young people, including Curtis Junior High and Curtis High students, attended a party at a parent’s home and adjoining business, Troyer said. The mother watched kids drinking beer at the party, which was hosted by a 15-year-old girl also living at the home, according to the sheriff’s report.

I checked with Jaime, our police-beat reporter, about the last time Wenatchee adults were charged for furnishing minors with alcohol. It’s rarely reported, he said. Here’s the last report he knows of:

Sept. 10, 100 block North Cleveland Avenue: 35-year-old woman arrested, jailed on suspicion of furnishing alcohol to minor. Woman allegedly had three minors in home who possibly had been drinking, one 19-year-old man cited for minor in possession of alcohol. Police were called by another person at residence, reported Sunday.

He thinks that the reporting person was the woman’s daughter, but he wasn’t sure. I haven’t called yet to verify that fact.

I wonder if the “rarity” of these events can be correlated with a survey of 382 Wenatchee parents by the coalition last summer that showed nearly 75 percent said it is not OK for parents to offer their teenage children alcohol in their home.

Good job, Wenatchee parents.

Here’s some things you might not know, from the Mercer Island-based “Communities that Care:”

• Furnishing alcohol to a minor is a Class A misdemeanor.

• It is illegal to give alcohol to your child’s friends who are under 21.
• It is illegal to permit minors to consume alcohol on property that you own, which includes your boat, motor home, undeveloped property, cabin, automobile, rental property or house.

Even if you weren’t the provider of alcohol,

•    You can be liable for accidents on your property whether you are home or not, including  vandalism, fist fights, date rape, even possibly the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases.  (There is no insurance coverage.)
•    If your child is driving the “family car” you can be found liable for damages caused by your child.
•    Children do not have to be 18 to be sued, they can be of any age.

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