Darrington targets teen dangers
Published 9:00 pm Saturday, February 17, 2007
DARRINGTON – Linn Brooks is a mom on a mission.
Fed-up with watching Darrington teens drink and do drugs, she’s taking a stand.
She’s banded together with other mothers and circulated a petition against theft, drugs and alcohol in Darrington. Almost 300 of Darrington’s 1,300 residents signed the petition.
In the last few days, the moms have addressed the City Council and School Board, urging the groups to unite in the fight against underage crime.
“I really hope there’s a way we can stop the kids of the town from going down the hole,” said Brooks, a school cafeteria worker and mother of a teenage son. “We’ve had lots of deaths. We’ve had lots of near deaths due to alcohol and drugs, and we’ve got to stop.”
The moms are trying to organize a communitywide meeting with the sheriff’s deputies who police the town, school and city officials, parents and other stakeholders.
“My theory is let’s get it all on the table,” said Linda Friddle, one of the moms trying to coordinate the meeting. “Let’s find out what we’ve done wrong. Why is there such a high volume of teen alcohol? Why are we having all these troubles? Where did we go wrong?”
Mayor Joyce Jones said she supports the women’s effort and appreciated their presentation to the City Council. Though the moms haven’t set a date for their community meeting, Jones said she plans to attend.
Nonetheless, she doesn’t think Darrington’s teens are any more troubled than youth anywhere else.
“Traditionally kids can find something to drink or smoke,” she said. “They do that. I don’t feel that teenagers here in Darrington are any different than (teens in) any other small community in the state. It’s a bother, but it’s not an epidemic.”
Reporter Kaitlin Manry: 425-339-3292 or kmanry@heraldnet.com.
