No Alcohol for Children!

An old newspaper article from way back in February of 1910 in the Kansas City Journal had an interesting story regarding what the schoolchildren were drinking in their homes. The teachers were asked to make a record of what they had eaten and drunk at every meal for a day or two, in the hopes that the physicians would be able to figure out why so many children suffered from severe nervousness while in school. They discovered that out of forty children, seventeen had either been given beer, wine, or whisky to drink with others being given coffee or tea. Afterwards it was decided that nurses who spoke the languages of the immigrants involved would be sent to the homes to teach the mothers the best way to nourish their children. It was hoped that this would make a difference.

We may feel startled to think that a little over 100 years ago this sort of thing happened, but the laws about minors drinking do not go back that far, and much of the nutritional information that we have today has been gathered because scientific advances have been made.

And yet, there are still those today who do not understand that alcohol is harmful to children. A 29 year old woman named Linda Petrait from Southwest Missouri has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the alcohol poisoning of her boyfriend’s 11 year old nephew, Tyler Fecko. She and her boyfriend, Dale Phillips, played a drinking game with Tyler when he came to visit them. He contracted alcohol poisoning, and died.

Linda Petrait may end up in jail for 13 years on the murder charge and she might receive 5 years for second-degree child endangerment. Phillips has decided to plead not guilty to the charges against him, which are first degree child endangerment and second degree murder.

Saddest of all is that the parents of Tyler entrusted his uncle and the uncle’s friend to care for their precious 11 year old son, and now he is gone. No amount of imprisonment can change that, but perhaps if others hear the account they will wake up and realize that children cannot handle liquor.