Drink One for Chaz...Are You Kidding Me?

Today February 10th, 2009, marks the one year anniversary of the sudden and tragic death of Chaz Lightner from Moundsville, WV. The incident was a horrific reminder for Marshall County and the surrounding communities, of the potential dangers that could result from underage drinking. From TV and radio to newspapers and the internet, reporting on this tragedy was extensive. One year later, evidence of the media coverage and the initial response from a distraught community can still be found online. While searching for information for this blog, I became overwhelmed by the sum of websites dedicated to Chaz and the amount of content contained on those pages. I will say that after visiting many different sites and after reading hundreds of comments and viewing even more pictures, I thought I would feel better about the lessons our society should have learned from this. Don’t get me wrong, I do believe that this tragedy has focused a light on the dark topic of underage drinking within our community. The concerns I have deal more with how some teens chose to honor his life and what their reaction indicates about the direction our community could be headed in.

This is what frustrates so many about this situation. Here you have a young man getting ready to begin his life. He has college, marriage, kids, professional career….his entire future knocking at his door. Tragically, his life is then cut short by participating in something that is completely avoidable. He didn’t have a life threatening illness and he wasn’t critically injured in a highway accident….he died because he drank too much! This can’t be anything less than a wake-up call for everyone. If anything should change the minds of teens and parents in this area, it should be the death of someone that is so young and loved by so many.

It is completely understandable that if a person passes away, some friends may want to honor their memory. Whether it’s a video celebrating this person’s life or a collection of stories and pictures shared by loved ones and friends, honoring someone’s memory is a thoughtful and expected practice. What isn’t expected is when a young teen dies from drinking too much alcohol and some of his friends choose to honor his memory by wearing shirts that say…..“Drink One for Chaz!” Expected, no. Dumb, yes! When I heard of this I couldn’t believe it. These shirts were actually produced and worn…outside…at community events like the Italian Festival. When a close friend dies from drinking too much alcohol and friends want to glorify his tragic demise by encouraging other underage kids to have a drink in his memory, things are looking pretty bad for us. Here’s something else…How is it that even after Chaz’s death, some classmates and friends are still flaunting their drinking on their MySpace pages? The legal drinking age is 21….right? After seeing how a tragedy like this can damage so many lives, it can’t really be worth it. You would think that his death would cause a conscious effort throughout the community to actually change what is going on in the Ohio Valley. I’ve seen the websites and read the comments. It’s obvious that many people loved Chaz but also really believed things would change for this area after this incident. As many people as there are that say they are against underage drinking, there are just as many who not only condone it but accept it as a part of life. These are the feelings shared by many local families who view underage drinking as generational, as something that has been accepted and tolerated for as long as they can remember.

Here’s another one for you…How many times have you heard Marshall County’s name attached to underage drinking? Whether you are from here or not, you are aware of the stigma that that has always been associated with this area. Even during my childhood years, I was taught the 2 most important things you need to know about Marshall County: 1) When old enough to drive, never speed through Benwood and 2) the legal drinking age in Marshall County is birth. The 2nd obviously isn’t true but goes to show that for many years, underage drinking has been linked with this county. Many people believe that if parents didn’t provide it for their kids or didn’t have it in the home, teens wouldn’t be able to gain access to alcohol. Although this would help some, the truth is that teens don’t need anyone to get them alcohol, they can buy it themselves. Last March, a month after Chaz’s death, the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department began undercover compliance checks with local retailers. Amazingly, 45 out of 48 clerks sold alcohol to minors. So if your child wants to drink, they’re drinking. The emphasis has to be applied to changing the mindset of everyone and instill that it’s not okay to have alcohol before the age of 21.

Through all the reading and talking with people familiar with this situation, I still wonder if much has truly changed. Kids are still getting arrested for DUI’s and I read about public intoxication incidents happening all the time. Not to mention that many parents are still allowing their kids to have parties and think by taking their keys, everything will be fine. Have we not learned from this? I understand that some parents feel that they have and have since stopped parties from happening or refused to purchase alcohol for their kids. But when you walk into your living room and see your child and their friends drinking, do you take action and end the party because you know the dangers involved with underage drinking or are you stopping the party because you are worried about the liability side of things? It’s a fair question. Are you more concerned with being sued than you are with the safety of our children? I’ve read so many comments proclaiming that “parents and teens were going to learn from this and change.” Change what? If you only change the way you handle underage drinking because you fear being sued, is that really the change our area needs? The community has to decide that generational underage drinking is a problem and needs to stop. We can’t wait for our kids to take a stand. We need to take a stand and become the catalyst of change for future generations of families in Marshall County.

The Marshall County Anti-Drug Coalition page was created to educate and inform as well as provide a positive public forum where issues concerning our community and surrounding communities can be discussed. Use this opportunity to discuss your opinions and views on how to make this area better with people from all over the Ohio Valley. Chaz Lightner’s life should be celebrated and his death should provide us with the motivation to do whatever it takes to prevent something like this from happening again. I ask that you don’t wait for change to happen. Take the initiative and make change happen for you and your community.