Often, in the aftermath of a tragic event such as that which occurred in Los Gatos during the week of Thanksgiving, we as a society feel a desperate need to place blame.
It's the parents who aren't paying enough attention to their children; it's the schools and the police who need to be more vigilant in the effort to educate youth about the dangers of drinking and driving; it's the alcoholic beverage industry whose imagery produced in advertisements is too provocative; it's our society in general that's too blasé in the manner in which it faces the serious issue of teenage drinking.
The troubling fact is, we are all responsible for a share of that blame, because there is some truth in each of these statements. However, regardless of where any of us would like to place the responsibility for such a tragedy, the facts remain. Like it or not, teenagers will drink—they have been for a long time. Regretfully, many will drink and drive, and, tragically, some will die. There will be no miraculous revolution.
Our role in the aftermath is not to point fingers and place blame. Our role is to grieve the loss, then to make sure that no young person—nor any person, for that matter—who dies as a result of an alcohol-related incident dies in vain. Our best course of action to that end is not culpability, but rather education.
While we lament the recent events, let's not forget to celebrate the scores of sensible decisions that teenagers have made because of the lessons they have learned through the programs offered through the schools by the Community Against Substance Abuse (CASA) and the Los GatosMonte Sereno Police Department.
It's impossible to calculate how many teens have been turned away from drinking and how many families have been saved from similar tragedies because of lessons learned through such programs. The time is not to question their effectiveness but to encourage more participation to get the message out and drive it home.
While we want to blame those parents who may not be paying enough attention to the activities of their teenage children, let's recognize those parents who do take an active interest in their kids. Let's encourage those vigilant parents to mentor others in an effort to foster a spirit of understanding that it takes all of us working together to protect our children.
There is little doubt that the advertising generated by the alcoholic beverage industry is targeting young people by painting a provocative and stimulating picture of drinking. Yet we as a society continue to support those companies with our purchases. What we need to do is to stop buying those products, then write to the companies to request that they stop marketing their products to teenagers.
It's not a time to place blame but rather a time to offer comfort to the families of the victims in this tragedy and to continue the educational effort to minimize the chance of such an event occurring again.
