One of our local high schools has discovered (gasp!) kids drink alcohol!

And this was despite the students signing athletic contracts in which they promised they wouldn’t drink alcohol!

And some of the kids had done it before!

And some of the parents involved made apologies for little Chloe or Biff on the prior occasions! And may be doing it again!

And, here is my favorite part, some of the adult administrators appear clueless about how to combat the activity, how to discourage it and, Lewis and Clark Expedition explorers be on notice, the administrators have a theory that this type of illegal/frowned-upon conduct is not necessarily a school problem, but may in fact be a “societal problem” that is both caused by communities, and must be combated by communities!

Highly paid school official, downtown for three!

Where do I begin?

Schools have it exactly backward when it comes to parents and community members.

Schools often kowtow to parents once problems crop up.

But early on the process?

Parents are Anthrax.

As for community members, schools view them like most motorists view those small fold-up snow shovels that some people carry in the trunks of their cars in case they get stuck not a bad idea maybe, but really necessary?

Yup.

Let me tell you why.

Monitoring a young person’s growth, development and activities is a full-time job.

School officials, coaches and teachers have a pretty good shot at seeing what Johnny and Suzie are up to Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., or even till 5 p.m. But after that? And on weekends?

Not so much.

Community members are the opposite. We are out of the loop Monday-Friday daytime. But the non-school hours? We are here, there, everywhere. Hmm.

Anything that can be done to bridge this gap?

Provide better coverage?

How to avoid “cracks” that the kids can sneak into, and hide, from Those Who Want Them to Do Right?

As the 04074 Kindergarten Teacher Hall of Fame dynamic duo of Jackman-Jensen would say, “Let’s brainstorm, shall we?!”

Here is what schools should do:

• Think about choosing a community member when selecting advisor to Glee Club, French Club or Middle School Tiddlywinks team. Frequently, they are in Hannaford on a sunny Saturday at noon getting bread and milk; or perhaps in the parking lot near Buffalo Wild Wings on a Thursday night getting Subway carryout; or near Pine Point Beach on a Sunday at 4 p.m. on the way to a church supper in OOB. They see things you won’t;

• At Parents Night for the volleyball team at the high school, when handing out uniforms, warmups, and team rules and regs set up a regular schedule of team suppers at homes of player families. Get many “extra sets of eyes involved” in kids, activities, get to know student-athletes;

• If something goes wrong, do not circle the wagons. Don’t form committees filled with your buddies, pals, cronies, paid employees. You need to hear bad news and constructive criticism. You will never get that from your toadies.

Youth sports involves working together as a team, right? That applies to you, too.

Dan Warren is a lawyer in Scarborough and can be reached via private Facebook message at Jones & Warren Attorneys at Law page.