LETTERS: PARENT DEPLORES THE USE OF ALCOHOL AT A PROJECT INVOLVING YOUTHS

MYERS LETTER:

To the editor:

Following the Jackson-Farmington football game, my son and group of his friends attended the Jackson Jaycees Haunted House. As they were preparing to enter the house, one of my son's friends was admonished, by the person taking the tickets, not to blow a whistle that he had because "the guys inside may have had a few more beers that he had and might not be as nice." My son and his friends also noticed the smell of alcohol in the presence of the person taking the tickets. This type of behavior from anyone, but especially a community civic organization, is appalling to me.

My first concern is the safety of the activity. How safety-conscious and responsive can those who are sponsoring the event be if they are consuming alcohol while they are taking part in the activities? Secondly, what kind of image does this model to the youth of our community? I recognize the fact the alcohol is a part of our society. It always has been and it always will be. However, irresponsible behavior regarding the consumption of alcohol should never be acceptable. If the Jaycees want to include alcohol in their private activities, then they have that right. But alcohol has no place at a community event such as the Haunted House, especially since the target group of participants is our youth.

I wish I could offer an easy solution to these problems, yet I know I cannot. Demanding that alcohol be banned from our society is not realistic. However, demanding responsible behavior regarding the use of alcohol is well within our rights as citizens of the community. The responsibility for modeling this behavior for our youth lies with the parents and community as a whole. I am deeply disappointed that, in my opinion, your organization has not done this.

CHARLA J. MYERS

Jackson

Wanda L. Lorenz, president of the Jackson Jaycees, responds:

I have discussed the events referred to in the letter with the Jaycee member Mrs. Myers refers to as having spoken to her son's friend. It is my opinion that the writer wasn't provided a complete story of the incident. First of all, the Jaycee member at the front door hadn't been drinking any alcoholic beverages. Secondly, the group of people who had the whistle that night also were carrying fireworks, and these fireworks were confiscated. The member doesn't recall saying any of the derogatory comments mentioned in Mrs. Meyers' letter, or anything like it.

The writer's first concern, safety, is also the first concern of the Jackson Jaycees, especially in the haunted house project. We take our safety and the safety of the participants in this project very seriously. The person working at the fornt door of the haunted house is always someone with enough maturity to recognize the safety concerns of everyone involved. We monitor all participants' carefully, not only while in line, but also inside the house. During this year's project, we confiscated in excess of 15 cigarette lighters from individual inside the house. The Jackson Jaycees cannot operate this project with members of the public, unaware of the safety risk posed, exposing us and the public to this fire hazard.

Concerning the use of alcohol and the public image of the Jackson Jaycees, we arevery concerned about the public perception of our organization. We don't tolerate the public consumption of alcoholic beverages by Jackson members at our public projects. The Jackson Jaycees is a leadership training organization, open to anyone between the ages of 21 and 40. Our organization stresses the importance of community service and the development of our individual members. With these goals in mind, we take great pride in maintaining a positive public image in our community. While we agree that drug and alcohol use is a serious problem in our society. we don't want our organization to be associated with the type of societal problems discussed in the open letter.

It is the hope of the Jackson Jaycees that this incident can be viewed in full context, and that it will not reflect negatively upon our organization. If Mrs. Myers would like to discuss this incident more fully, I would encourage her to contact me directly.