Originally aired October 19, 2001

Traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for young people. The deadly mix of drinking and driving is evident in Nebraska. In the Columbus area alone, 14 young people have died in the last six years in alcohol-related crashes. "Statewide's" Perry Stoner looks at the battle against teen drinking. He also examines one program - called Project Extra Mile - that's working to eliminate the problem across Nebraska. Project Extra Mile is a special initiative of the state Office of Highway Safety, is building a community consensus to stop underage drinking.

Diane Riibe, Executive Director of Project Extra Mile, talks about the group's approach to the problem of underage drinking.
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Riibe discusses how Project Extra Mile measures its impact and on reaching parents.
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Lt. Kevin Schuller, Platte County Sheriff's Dept., talks about the new minor consumption law.
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Schuller discusses law enforcement efforts in the Columbus/Platte County area.
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Schuller on reaction after underage drinking incidents.
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TRANSCRIPT

Transcript of Perspective

TRANSCRIPT - Teen Drinking

Reported by Statewide correspondent, Perry Stoner

[Kevin Stout] "I guess its been five and a half years ago now where the four kids were killed in a traffic crash out at Wagner's. This T-intersection is where they went off at… and then went straight into the lake."
Kevin Stout is the community service officer with the Columbus Police Department. His duties take him into the schools and onto the streets. On the roads around the community reminders of fatalities are many. Lt. Kevin Schuller often gets the task no one wants.
[Lt. Kevin Schuller] "There's no easy way to tell a parent that their child has been killed. There's nothing more creepy or more spooky than walking up to someone's home, two or three o'clock in the morning, and to see the look on their face when then open the door. They know you're not there to socialize."
[Stout] "When I talk to the people in the community, it's a generational thing. They said our parents did it and their parents did it, they all drink and that's just the way they were raised. And you'll get some folks in the community that talk about teaching their kids to drink responsibly. They're ignoring the fact that it's still illegal."
[Officer] "How much have you had to drink?"
[Kid] "Not much."
[Officer] "Not much is how much?"
[Kid] "I don't know. A few beers."
[Officer] "A few beers."
The Columbus Police Department has increased its enforcement of alcohol violations over the last few years. They've seen a change in behavior.
[Officer Jason Lawrence] "I haven't dealt with a large party in quite a while. You know, in a couple years. When I first started with the police department we did. I think the majority of them move out to the county where the law enforcement has fewer officers to deal with it. And they have a larger area to run from basically. We deal with groups of four and five, either in vehicles or at a house or an apartment and that's about what our MIPs consist of nowadays."
What the police did in town, Lt. Schuller says the Platte County Sheriff did around the county.
[Lt. Schuller] "Our numbers are just very high for minor in possession of alcohol, and we see those numbers declining now. And we just, in our opinion, believe that's because we've chased it now out of our county into the adjoining counties."
Friday night in Nebraska. High school football draws students together. Bob Soulliere is in his senior season of football at Columbus Scotus. He's made the decision to not drink alcohol.
[Bob Soulliere] "I myself, I don't drink. I mean, I don't like to lose control of… of myself. And some of the friends that I hang out with do drink. They figure that this is something to do, they might as well do this. So they drink and they can have fun."
Meghan Bernt is involved in many school activities. The game brings a lot of students together, but when some of them go drinking afterward Meghan won't be along.
[Meghan Bernt] "The people that I usually hang out with, yeah some of them do drink. But they also know that if they ever need anything, they get in a problem that they can call me and I'll come and get them. But they do know that I do not do that. And so they'll like usually don't ask me to go out with them on that night they decide to go have a little beer or something."
Meghan has seen the impact when a party ends in tragedy.
[Bernt] "They're always going to think that's not going to happen to them. They always act like it's not going to come back, not going to hit them. But they go back to their same old ways, they don't learn. Some people have learned but the majority hasn't."
The people around Columbus have plenty of experience dealing with tragedies. In the last six years fourteen area youth have died in alcohol related crashes.
[Megan Stromberg] "If they bury a friend, unfortunately a week later we might see those same kids… that same group… out drinking and honoring their friend that they've lost. And I don't mean that doesn't take place in other communities, but its just real clear… really obvious here in Columbus. Its at family functions, its at church functions, community functions… it's just there. Its just part of the culture."
Changing the culture is part of what Project Extra Mile is about. It started with the Omaha Coalition. Now a statewide initiative it's funded by the Nebraska office of Highway Safety. Over the years others have tried to stop underage drinking, the distinction for this group is what's called community consensus or getting everyone involved.
[Diane Riibe] "And the more expansive we can make that effort the more likely that it is to have an impact generations beyond. So it is important to involve every facet of the community that's willing to come forward. First you nudge them, then they're willing."
[Bob Arp] "School administrators have to make a conscious choice."
Bob Arp is among those willing to address the problem. He's on the Columbus Project Extra Mile board. As principal at Columbus Lakeview, he understands that young people need to hear the same message from all ppers of the community.
[Arp] "Am I simply a school administrator, and I do the job of being a school administrator day in and day out? Or do I get involved and go beyond the bounds of the job, go beyond the bounds of the classroom and the building and try and make an impact outside of that?"
When Lakeview opened its football season a few players missed the game. They and some of the school's volleyball players were caught drinking days earlier. It's a reminder that changing behavior does not happen overnight.
[Arp] "When it comes to drinking, all kids end up with alcohol that came from an adult somewhere. Whether it was a clerk, whether it was a parent, whether it was an older sibling, some adult had to get that alcohol for 'em some place in time. And that's something we've got to address. We can't keep pointing the finger at the kids."
Videos are one way Project Extra Mile can reach all ppers of the state. Riibe says the problem is everywhere.
[Riibe] "Kids in rural areas drink more alcohol. They engage in more illicit drug use. I think that's because, not that there's a lack of things to do although that certainly is the case oftentimes, but I think its more a lack of a peer group that gives a positive message. As well as those positive role models because it is again the entire community is immersed in that behavior."
Project Extra Mile helps young people from around the state become role models. Meghan Bernt went to this summer's Youth Conference.
[Bernt] "I wanted to get to meet some other people that are also doing the Project Extra Mile. And so I can get to know them and see what they are going through. And to see what they have any ideas on what we could take back to Columbus and see if we can put those into use."
The young people at this conference want to change perceptions about alcohol.
[Joel Sutherland] "I think its something that they've kind of grown up knowing that drinking is something you do to have a good time. And so I think it's… youth aren't out to drink, they're out to have a good time. And some of them have the misconception that drinking is a requirement to do that."
Those in the program also want to change state law.
[Riibe] "But I think we gauge our success already by the kinds of polity or statute changes that we've been able to see. We've added consumption to the Nebraska statute. We were able to change the way that liquor license holders could buy their way out of penalties. Those are two very significant changes. We were able to get through the Liquor Control Commission a doubling of penalties for retailers who repeatedly sell alcohol to minors."
Nebraska's new minor in consumption law will give law enforcement another tool.
[Stout] "What the law is going to be at midnight is called minor in consumption. So that means if the police officer smells alcohol on you or detects any sign of impairment, they can write you a ticket. You don't have to have the alcohol on you any more."
[Officer] "So you haven't had anything to drink at all?"
[Kid] "Nope."
[Officer] "I'm smelling alcohol. I don't know whether it's on you or whether you drank it, but I'm smelling it."
[Lawrence] "You've already got the law enforcement and the court system involved but we've got to get the parents to support us."
[Officer] "So you're telling me that you haven't had anything to drink?"
[Kid] "Nothing."
[Officer] "Nothing at all?"
[Kid] "No, sir."
[Officer] "Well, I don't buy that."
[Lawrence] "We had a fifteen-year-old who was out with a group of his friends. They'd come to a party here at the apartment complex. And they were hiding… for some reason back here behind the trash dumpster. Three of them… two or three of them took off running. One stayed here. He was fifteen, he had been drinking. Smelled of alcohol and he submitted to a breath test which showed as a point zero two. Due to the curfew violation we called his mom to come and get him.
"So it's kind of nice to see a parent that's concerned and wants some advice and wants some help in figuring out how to cure the problem."
Getting parents involved before tragic events happen is an aspect of the Community Consensus Effort.
[Stromberg] "Our focus 90 percent of the time is on adults… is on the parents especially. And setting a good example and just trying to teach kids that… Well, we could have a family function or a birthday party or whatever and we don't need alcohol there."
[Lt. Schuller] "Every one of these parents that I've talked to, whether I've had to tell them that their son or daughter has been killed, or whether they come out to the scene and they have to pick up their son or daughter because they've been drinking. They all the same thing, "Well, he's a good kid you know." And that's not to say that they're not, but it's there and if the alcohol presents itself, who knows what's going to happen?"
[Kid] "If there was more for kids to do here, they wouldn't drink as much."
[Officer] "Where are you from?"
[Kid] "Connecticut. But I come here and like everybody drinks. That's because there's nothing for the kids to do."
Not everyone plays football or has the band to keep them busy. Those that want young people to stop drinking though don't buy the excuse that there's nothing to do. But even if that is the case, drinking doesn't have to be an option.
[Lawrence] "There are a lot of good teenagers that don't drink and don't support it. And you know their efforts don't go unnoticed. But we need to get everybody, the whole community involved. Even the people that don't have children, they need to realize that it is a problem and that it does concern them too."
[Riibe] "You have to take, I believe, a long-term vision and a long-term approach. And if we look at building that community consensus it's about changing the norms within the community. And we see that differently across the state. Different communities that are at another level of their acceptance of underage drinking."
Project Extra Mile wants to show Nebraskans that the issue matters to everyone. Whether you drive the roads or care about young people, underage drinking prevention is part of your world.