Scarsdale, NY 10583 | Six More Teens Caught Drinking in Edgemont | Shout it Out

beerbottles For the second weekend in a row, teens have been caught drinking in Edgemont by the police. Most recently, on Saturday, September 24 at 7:30 pm. the Greenburgh Police Department received a complaint that several teenagers were drinking alcoholic beverages in front of a house at 14 Scarsdale Farm Road. Members of the Greenburgh Drug and Alcohol Task Force went out with the police to investigate and found a number of young people with beer in front of the house. Police found that the youths had also consumed it. The parents of the teen who hosted the party were not home at the time of the incident.

As a result, six teenagers, all sixteen years-old were issued a summons for “Possession of Alcohol by a Person Under the Age of 21”, Section 65-c of the Alcohol and Beverage Control law. They were released at the scene to the custody of their parents or guardians and court dates are scheduled for October at Town of Greenburgh Court.

According to Lt. Brian J. Ryan, Public Information Officer for the Greenburgh Police, police were not out looking for underage drinkers at the time, but were required to investigate the complaint. Along with the Greenburgh Drug and Alcohol Task Force, police are pro-active in enforcing the law. Based on his experience, the punishment for those with no prior record is usually education and community service.

Parents were divided in their reaction to this latest incident. Some were not surprised that the teens were gathered at this particular home and felt that when parents fail to supervise their children the police should step in. One mom speculated, “What could have happened if one of these kids got behind the wheel of a car?” Others were critical of the police and thought they should be concentrating on catching the burglars that have been a problem in the neighborhood for the past few years, instead of breaking up drinking parties. Still others said that the school should be more proactive about educating students on the dangers of teenage drinking.

Commenting on the two incidents, Edgemont’s Bob Bernstein said, "Underage drinking has been taking place in suburban communities for decades, and Edgemont is no exception. It's just that high tech communication being what it is today, Edgemont kids can get together very quickly in a very large group and not go unnoticed. We as parents must therefore reinforce what our kids are taught in school: underage drinking, even in the privacy of your own home, is illegal; an arrest and conviction could put your future in jeopardy; binge drinking can be fatal; and drinking and driving can make you a danger to others as well as yourself. That said, every town and village in Westchester County offers programs and facilities for teens so that there's always a safe and alcohol-free place for kids to "hang out" after an event, like a big football game. But we in Edgemont have nothing like that, and that's wrong. Scarsdale has a very successful teen center, Greenburgh's villages each have programs for their own teens, but even though we pay for it, Greenburgh only provides teen programs for those in the northern part of the town. These programs don't stop teenage drinking, of course, but they do offer kids a reasonable alternative to avoid the peer pressure that starts the moment "instant messages" lead to "instant partying."

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written by edgemont parent, November 03, 2011

I would just like to comment on "not my kid"
My wife and I are very involved with our children, we do NOT turn the other way when it comes to drinking or drugs.Our children are all straight A's students, involved in many community services ( of their choice) we've talked about the dangers of drinking and drugs ever since they were little. WE have done EVERYTHING BY THE BOOK AND MORE , so that we could say "not my child" and guess what? My child has been caught drinking and smoking weed. I don't have the answer! But please dont always say it's the parents fault.
I think everywhere you turn, ( from TV, radio stations, other highschools....) the message is that it's normal to get F****ed UP and everyone is doing it.
We as adults know it's not everyone, but it sure looks that way!
Very sad!!!

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written by there you go again, October 04, 2011

sounds like september 30 is part of the head in the sand crowd. sometimes that one stupid mistake can be fatal.

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written by ..., September 30, 2011

Kids experiment with all kinds of things. Drugs, alcohol, sex. Parents need to keep an open dialog with their children and hope for the best. Teen drinking parties are busted all over Westchester. Rye, Bronxville, Scarsdale etc. To throw stones at each other and say "not me, not my kid" is ridiculous. To bring up Lauren Spierer? As if her family is not suffering enough? As if most of the commenters have never been intoxicated as a teen or adult? Please. Shame on you. You just woke up with a hangover, not MIA. One stupid mistake should not be paid for so dearly.

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written by blame the law, September 30, 2011

Everyone wants to blame the police, its true that the police go over board with some of the"citations". But there is a big drinking problem in Edgemont, and has been going on for years. Do you really want to solve the problem? it would be easy, instead of handing out tickets to the children for $50.00, the police if they see beer or liquor than arrest the parents who are hosting the party. If the parent is not home, than arrest the child....Guaranteed you will not see anymore parties going on. If the parent would be taken into custody with cuffs, there is no way, they would have these kids back to their homes. As an edgemont parent, I would like the other parents to stop pointing fingers at the Greenburgh police or theTown of greenburgh for not teaching the kids about underage drinking. It is not there job. They waste enough of my tax dollars on the Dare program, which does not work. The responsibility is that of the parent. The majority of edgemont parents know their kids drink and turn a blind eye to it, or they have the philosophy of " I am going to teach my child to drink responsibly " and then they hand them the car keys and see them in the morning. My child was at the party after homecoming,the police said I should be proud of my child that was not drunk but was still handed a ticket. Unless I put my child in a box there will be times when my child will be in places where beer is available and I believe I have done a good job teaching the between right and wrong, and I hope my child will make the right decision. With that said I do hope that the police can separate those that drink and those that don't. If a child can go to a party that there is drinking and they are not, that should be commended not ticketed. At homecoming there were too many kids that were ticketed that were not drinking and issued tickets.

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written by ...., September 30, 2011

I dont think that a teen center or even a "safe house" is a good option. The parents have to imprint the rules that this behavior is not tolerated. Too many parents turn their heads!

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written by Calvin, September 30, 2011

We have a problem. Enough blame to go around but what are solutions? Everyone in Edgemont is or should be invested in the lives of all our youth, and not just our own. Ideally, we should care and correct the illegal or improper behavior of our kids. Parenting is difficult but is our most important legacy - not corporate title and country club memberships. In the case of underage drinking or substance abuse, we need some middle ground between blaming the kids or the parents. Kids will always be bored so it is a matter of helping them make good decisions now before they head off to college. Parents should not whitewash kids' school records so they can get kids into good schools but with a faulty moral compass, which i suppose leads to insider trading, subprime mess, Anothony Weiners, etc.

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written by edgemont parent, September 30, 2011

As a parent of one the children who got caught up in last weekend's sting operation, I'd like to inject a bit of fact and reality into the suburban gossip and self righteous condemnation of others parenting skills that typically swirl around in the aftermath of such incidents. It was very clear to the parents who were called to pick up their kids, as I'm certain it was to the six police officers who showed up at the post-homecoming party, that the majority of the kids who were threatened with breathalyzer tests, pulled out of cars and shoved into the garage until their parents arrived, were not drunk and had little or nothing to drink. There was not one drunk, unruly or uncooperative kid in the mix. But that did not deter the police from threatening and intimidating one and all and giving citations to everyone they could round up, including kids who volunteered to take the breathalyzer test and blew a zero (and were given citations anyway) and many kids who came out for homecoming who NEVER drink or participate in "drinking parties". It seems to me that the police had an agenda that night to bust up a party, down to the folding table they had at the ready to aid in the processing of citations, and they were not going to let the facts on the ground get in the way of their agenda. There were a few empty beer cans at the house, but this gathering was not a drinking party, no hard alcohol, no weed, no one sick or inebriated. It was not clear who drank the beer, as kids apparently came and went that night, but the ones who were there, did not run and were given citations were not the offenders. I do not condone underage drinking and appreciate the need for police to enforce the law, but I can't help but shake my head at the tactics and the strategy. Collective punishment has done nothing to abolish underage drinking. Perhaps I'm crazy, but I think it would have made more of an impression had they taken the opportunity to reinforce the truly important messages we need to drive home to kids -- about driving, the signs of alcohol poisoning, how to help a friend, the trouble that can result from underage drinking, etc. to keep reminding kids that it's not worth it so they think and hopefully make the right choices. If the goal is to make sure kids don't have a beer or try alcohol before they're 21, we're collectively deluded. The message of the big bust? Sadly, for a lot of these kids, it doesn't matter if you make the right choices -- you have to worry about what everyone else does too because the police make no distinctions.

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written by a concerned parent, September 28, 2011

Edgemont has recently had membership at the Scarsdale Teen Center for our students, paid for in part by the generosity of the Edgemont Rec. Parents at the Jr/Sr HS cosponsored a Saturday open gym night at the school to give the kids a place to socialize, have fun and throw some balls around. 3 kids showed up. Many kids at this age are not interested in parent sactioned socializing...this is the age for taking risks. (Which is one of the reasons, besides brain development, that the "arbitrary" age was chosen.) We as parents have a responsibility to monitor our children and minimize their risk. It takes three groups to contribute to underaged drinking....kids, suppliers and hosts. The suppliers are fined when they are caught, and eventually lose their license to sell. The hosts who often knowingly allow it are getting off unscathed. The group we can expect the least from are the kids who are immature and believe in their own indistruction. Sure kids are going to try to drink underaged...it's been going on for years...and it is our job as parents to stop them. And parents who don't have the good sense to not provide a "safe" environment for kids to engage in this type of behavior should be held accountable.

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written by ???, September 27, 2011

Edgemont kids are invited to use the Scarsdale Teen Center, and if they really wanted to they could go to TDYCC - my kids did.
There is drinkig going on in those communities also - just read the local paper!

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written by be serious, September 27, 2011

I cannot believe that Bob Bernstein is using this as yet ANOTHER attempt to convince us that Greenburgh is not addressing our needs and we need to incorporate. If Edgemont wanted to put a Teen Center together they could do it- when I went to Edgemont 20 years ago we had one at the Greenville Community Church. It was fine but I don't think many kids chose to go there if a better party was going on and I am sure the same thing would happen today. I think it's up to parents to educate their children so they don't make stupid decisions.

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written by head in the sand, September 27, 2011

So which are more likely to develop real problems: the kids who get mixed messages from their parents, or those who parents' are very clear about whether or not their kids should be drinking at 15? Kids do stupid things. Parents are supposed to call them out on it, not bury their heads in the sand and hope for the best.

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written by oh no dont tell me, September 27, 2011

the drinking age in indiana is 21
lauren was 20 when she disappeared after a night of heavy drinking.
so thats underage drinking.
she was also arrested previously for public intoxication,
so lets stop pretending she didnt have a drinking problem.
sadly there are plenty of laurens out there. and some are still alive in edgemont.

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written by John Doe, September 27, 2011

As a former student of Edgemont, i can tell you that underage drinking will never be solved by any "teen center" or some program. Drugs, alcohol and raging parties will always exist in Scarsdale, Edgemont and Westchester. Why? Because of wealth, parental naivety, and children with BMW's at the age of 16. Every parent always would say, " Not my kid."

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written by Edgemont parent, September 26, 2011

The drinking problem in Edgemont has nothing to to with the Town of Greenburgh not having a teen center in Edgemont -- even if there was a teen center in Edgemont, there would still be teen drinking problems. The problem is that parents are not supervising their teens in their own homes!

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written by Come on..., September 26, 2011

Lauren Spierer? What does that have to do with anything? Come on now. Just silly to bring her into this. Her story has nothing to do with underage drinking.

Some of these kids have real problems with alcohol? Many of them also don't have any problems with alcohol and drink socially. So what? Sounds exactly like the rest of the population except that they're 21. A completely arbitrary number that even those enforcing the law never followed.

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written by you must be kidding, September 26, 2011

if you think a teen center is the answer - check first with scarsdale PD - there is plenty of drinking going on in scarsdale! Don't kid yourself.

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written by oh no dont tell me, September 26, 2011

havent these kids heard of lauren spierer?

on the other hand, incorporation of edgemont into a village is not necessarily the answer to this problem. some of these kids have real problems with alcohol.

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Six More Teens Caught Drinking in Edgemont

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