The death of a Kiski Area student over the weekend was a tragedy, the kind every parent of a teen fears. There was a party and kids were drinking. The 16-year-old girl’s mother said her daughter wasn’t supposed to be there. Which is often the case with teens. They aren’t where they say they are going to be. That’s because they know their parents wouldn’t approve. Authorities are investigating how the teens got alcohol at the Sunday night party in a Vandergrift apartment. Police say they have had complaints about underage drinking at the building before and say adults and minors attended. We hear a lot about the danger of drugs in our schools but alcohol is the drug of choice for most teens. They find older siblings or someone over 21 who will get it for them. Parents have to become detectives at this age. Word travels fast by instant message on where there is a weekend party without adults. So parents need to network with other parents. They need to call their children on their cell phones — or from a friend’s cell phone. And investigate whether an adult will be present and call the parents to find out what their policy is on serving minors. We have to acknowledge the problem exists in every high school in this land and try to teach teens at an early age that excessive alcohol consumption — of beer or liquor — can be fatal. Binge drinking is on the increase among youth, according to national statistics. That’s defined as having five or more drinks in a row. And alcohol affects people by weight — so smaller girls are at higher risk. We’ve done a pretty good job in recent years of teaching teens about the dangers of drinking and driving. Now it’s time to talk about binge drinking.

---

Copyright ©2026— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)

---