PLACENTIA / YORBA LINDA : Hot Line Set Up to Curb Teen Drinking

Hoping to deter high school students from throwing and attending parties where alcohol is available, the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District board has established a hot line for reporting such parties.

The board’s action came at the request of the Esperanza High School Parents, Teachers and Students Assn., which also is urging police to adopt a policy of breaking up parties where alcohol is served to minors and then notifying parents.

“Law enforcement agencies don’t always break up parties” where alcohol is being served to minors, PTSA President Rose Howard told the school board last week. “And they don’t usually report these parties to parents.”

In addition to asking police departments to toughen their enforcement of underage drinking laws, Howard said, the PTSA is enlisting the help of parents and local liquor stores.

“One goal is to educate parents and ask them to take a zero-tolerance stance,” Howard said.

The organization also has asked liquor store owners to require their employees to ask for identification for alcohol purchases from anyone who appears to be under 30 and to train employees to spot fake identifications.

Calls to the district hot line, (714) 996-6040, will be forwarded to police. The hot line also can be used to report graffiti on school property, students with weapons or drugs and other potential problems on any of the district’s campuses.