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March 28, 2024

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Spring Housing Guide

Police notify parents on underage drinking

The Bowling Green Police Division has implemented a parental notification policy for underage alcohol offenses.

“We now send letters home to the parents of all persons arrested between the ages of 18 to 21 where alcohol is involved,” Chief Thomas Votava said.

The letter is used in cases where a minor was charged with a criminal violation or an alcohol related traffic violation.

“The Bowling Green Police Division is very concerned about the quality of life within our community and believes that the notification of parents is one tool that can be used to combat incidents of disruptive and/or criminal behavior,” Votava states in the letter.

Since October 2002, when the policy first took effect, the department has sent a total of 75 letters to parents, and has received nine responses in return.

Parents seem pleased with the notification policy, as all the feedback has been of a positive nature, according to Lt. Ken Fortney.

The policy began after the police department conducted resident surveys in an effort to improve the quality of life in the community. The most frequent complaint mentioned among the residents was the disruptive drinking behavior of minors.

Overall, the number of repeat offenders has been a concern, according to Fortney. “After we’ve arrested someone over and over again, we began to think that if it takes a letter to mom and dad to stop the problem, then we were willing to do that,” he said.

The program is not targeted at University students alone — it is community-wide.

Since the program is fairly new, it is too early to determine if any significant change has been made, although research indicates the policy is sound.

In 2000, the University conducted a national study and found that parental notification was an effective deterrent to underage drinking. Overall, the study indicated “a slight or significant reduction in the number of alcohol violations,” including vandalism and other alcohol related offenses, according to a University press release.

The study was conducted by Donald Gehring, chair of the higher education administration program, Carolyn Palmer, a professor in the college student personnel program, and a team of graduate students.

In an effort to reduce underage drinking, the University follows federally mandated programs, which require distribution of pamphlets on the effects and laws of drugs and alcohol, but the study found this is not a successful deterrent to student drinking.

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