The arrest of a Westminster woman accused of providing alcohol to her daughter?s friends raises some complex questions: If high-school students are going to drink, shouldn?t adults at least be present to supervise them? Isn?t it safer?
“I understand the impulse,” said Marti Erickson, a professor of childhood development at the University of Minnesota.
“Parents want to make sure the kids are safe, but you really have to look at all the implications of this when you do break the law knowingly. Parents have to decide what message to send to your children. I think it?s a bad idea.”
Carroll County sheriff?s deputies arrested Catherine Marie Gunther, 42, of Westminster, on Tuesday.
Deputies said they were led to Gunther after a May 27 hit-and-run collision, after which youths admitted to consuming alcohol and directed deputies to a party on Band Hall Hill Road. Deputies said they responded to the reported party and spoke with the homeowner, Gunther, as she was “cleaning up.”
Sheriff?s deputies observed empty beer cans in the yard and on the back porch, and another minor in possession and under the influence of an alcoholic beverage. Gunther told police that she knew numerous juveniles were drinking in her backyard, but “no one was supposed to leave,” charging documents state.
Police in Baltimore City and Anne Arundel, Baltimore and Howard counties said they did not have statistics immediately available for similar arrests made in those counties, but Anne Arundel said such incidents are “rare.”
“You see it more during graduation season and prom,” said Lt. David Waltemeyer, an Anne Arundel County police spokesman. “It?s rare, but there have been occasions where we got to a home and we find adults allowing kids to drink. We will charge them, but it?s usually a civil citation.”
Marshall P. Duke, a professor of psychology at Emory University, said parents and adults sometimes justify allowing high school students to consume alcohol because they are doing it indoors and at a safe place. He said adults should avoid such justifications and endeavor to set tougher standards for youths.
“It?s hard to justify violating a law when you put people are risk,” he said. “What does it demonstrate to the children? That it?s fine to break the law if it?s convenient for you? It?s OK for kids to be unhappy, so long as parents are making good decisions.”
Gunther is charged with 16 counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a criminal offense that carries up to three years? incarceration and a $2,500 fine.
She also faces two counts of furnishing alcohol to a minor, which carries a maximum $500 fine.
Gunther did not answer repeated phone calls requesting comment.
