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USAO student C. W. Bardsher plays the role of a sexual predator with a taste for younger girls at a Reality Party in the Alumni House on the USAO campus. The event was sponsored by the Red Rock West Area Prevention Resource Center in Yukon to raise awareness of underage drinking and to encourage the passage of Social Host Laws in other communities. Chickasha is the only city in Grady County with such a law in place.
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Chickasha Assistant Police Chief Elip Moore answers a call about an underage drinking party as part of Red Rock West Area Prevention Resource Center’s Reality Party on the USAO campus on Wednesday.
Discussion
A DIFFERENT REALITY SHOW
IS SHE DEAD OR JUST DEAD DRUNK?
It was a big teen drinking party.
A party with parental permission.
In the kitchen, teens were swigging beer from cans and guzzling whiskey from bottles.
Some were smoking pot.
In the living room, a girl was passed out on the floor with a half-empty whisky bottle in her hand. An older man, with a self-admitted taste for younger girls, caressed her cheek as he smiled down at her.
In reality, the drinking party was a staged event known as a Reality Party, with actors playing the roles of underage drinkers.
It was sponsored by the Red Rock West Area Prevention Resource Center of Yukon.
“Chickasha Schools helped put this together. The high school kids said this is exactly how it really is,” said Holly Howard of the APRC.
Said Ashley Cline, director of Red Rock APRC: “Reality parties like this are happening all over the state. We are sponsoring 20 or so Reality Parties across the state to bring awareness of the Social Host Law and underage drinking and to show it’s not just here in town; it’s across the state.”
Community leaders are invited to Reality Parties so they can get an idea of what goes on in their own back yards with the hope of encouraging towns and cities to enact social host laws.
Chickasha is the only city in Grady County that has a social host law in place.
There are only 78 other cities across the state with similar laws.
Parent Reaction
Parents are invited to come to the Reality Parties see just what their own teens may be doing.
Some parents looked shell-shocked as they left the party, having had no idea what goes on at today’s teen parties.
“I guess I’m out of the loop,” said one parent, who added that she was glad her daughter is 34 years old.
Said another shocked mother: “That should be a documentary and it should be shown in every junior high and high school.”
“I got goosebumps,” said yet another.
After learning about a California group that sponsors similar Reality Parties, Cline contacted them and went to California for training, bringing home a party “script” that the group uses depicting what goes on at teen drinking parties.
She gave the script to local high school and college students and asked if the story lines reflected real parties.
“They all agreed it was very realistic and, for the most part, it was right on,” Cline said.
Cline said Red Rock tweaked the script a bit and gave it to the USAO drama students who would play the roles of partying teens.
Chickasha’s Reality Party took place in the Alumni House on the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma campus.
Students received their scripts the morning of the event and had until that afternoon to memorize them.
“I have been thrilled about how well they’ve done it,” Cline said.
During 30-minute tours, scenes played out in different rooms of the house.
A tour guide lead the visitors through the rooms and gave a short synopsis of what was taking place.
And what was taking place my be shocking to many parents.
One of the most frightful elements of the party took place in an upstairs bedroom where several teens were sitting in the dark holding candles.
They were grieving over the things they had done while drunk.
“I had sex with my best friend’s girlfriend,” one young man said. “And I didn’t even know it.”
One girl said: “If we get drunk and have sex, it’s not our fault, so we get drunk.”
“I don’t like what I do, but the guys expect it and I guess the girls do, too,” said another.
One girls sobbed while saying, “I said no...I said no...I said no...” She was lying on the floor in a fetal position.
“I thought we’d be a couple afterward,” said yet another girl.
Social Law
Finally, downstairs there was a knock on the door.
It was the police.
The parent who was hosting the party answered the door and Chickasha Assistant Police Chief Major Elip Moore entered the room.
Moore informed the woman about Chickasha’s social host law and told her there is a $138 fine for hosting a party where underage drinking is allowed.
“This is something we take very seriously,” Moore said. “The social host law doesn’t have big enough teeth yet.”
While the fine for hosting the party is $138, if underage drinkers drive away from the party and are involved in an accident, the host parent is also responsible for that. They can also face other charges as well.
When the police arrive at a teen drinking party, they do not simply write a few tickets and leave, Moore said. Instead, they contact every parent to come and pick up their child.
“We don’t just let them drive off; if we did that, we’d become part of the problem,” Moore said.
Cline said her organization has had a lot of support from Grady County and law enforcement.
“People think this is not happening, but it really is happening,” Cline said. “It really brings it home having a real police officer come to the door.”
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Transformations
What comes to mind when you think of the word, “Transformation”?Do you have fantastic thoughts of people or things changing into something amazing for example, Clark Kent turning into Superman or Bruce Banner becoming the Incredible Hulk or possibly something a little more down to earth like a caterpillar miraculously changing into the beautiful butterfly?
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GRADY COUNTY FAIR RESULTS
Plants
Potted Plants
(Several varieties combined)
First: (Adult) Ann O'Bar
Second: (Adult) Joyce Riker
Third: (Adult) Jallane Link -
AROUND THE AREA
SEPTEMBER 2
Poetry Reading
• When: Sept. 2, 7 p.m.
• Where: Eduardo’s Mexican Restaurant, Private Room, 3127 S. 4th St., Chickasha
• Details: Featured Poet is Carol Hamilton, writer, storyteller and Poet Laureate of Oklahoma 1995-97Hamilton’s website is www.carolhamilton.org. There is no admission fee to attend the Poetry Reading, and refreshments are available for purchase. For more information, contact Rockford Johnson, 224-0160 or 317-7506. -
Duncan nips Chicks for straight-game win
Duncan got their eighth match win of the season Tuesday, beating Nancy Waters’ Lady Chicks in straight games at the Activity Center.
The Chicks looked like they had a little hangover from Monday night’s tough road loss at Tecumseh, coming out flat again and dropping their first two games by identical 25-17 scores.
They came out firing on all eight cylinders for game three, running out to a 15-9 lead on the strength of a 7-0 run with Shelby Crosley serving, but the Demons battled back to tie it late and the Chicks let it slip away, 25-21. -
STATE SPORTS BRIEFS
NORMAN (AP) — Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops has named walk-on Patrick O'Hara as the starting place-kicker for the seventh-ranked Sooners.
Stoops said on his radio show Tuesday night that O'Hara won the competition with Jimmy Stevens, freshman Michael Hunnicutt and redshirt freshman Bryce Easley. -
OSU's Gundy still learning on job
STILLWATER (AP) — Mike Gundy hasn't lost his love for dialing up the right play to keep Oklahoma State's offense purring along.
That passion, which he has called the most enjoyable part of his job as head coach, was bred into him as an offensive coordinator. And he is a former starting quarterback for the Cowboys. -
Whimsical metal work, jewelry part of big art show at USAO
A showing of whimsical metal work and jewelry is scheduled to be on display at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma during Helen’s Show Sept. 10-Oct 1.
The show will feature the work of USAO graduate Helen Shafer. The exhibition will be open daily during normal business hours in the Davis Hall Third Floor Art Gallery on the USAO campus. The show is free and open to the public. An opening reception is scheduled Sept. 10 at 6 p.m. in the gallery. -
High-speed chase lands 1 in jail
A high-speed motorcycle chase down Highway 81 last Wednesday landed a Ninnekah man in jail and a felony charge of eluding a police officer.
Court records show that James William Hutchins, 21, blew by Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Timothy Parrish at U.S. Highway 81 and County Road 1460 and was clocked going 144 miles per hour in a posted 70 miles per hour zone.
Parrish reported that he was sitting stationary at that location at about 3:45 p.m. on Aug. 25 when he observed a red motorcycle traveling southbound. He engaged his emergency lights and siren and pulled onto the roadway behind the Triumph motorcycle. -
5 inmates denied parole
Parole was recently denied for five Grady County inmates serving sentences with the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.
The following individuals were denied at the August Pardon and Parole Board meeting:
• Jeremiah Daniel Cline, who is serving a five-year sentence for distribution of a controlled dangerous substance and a five-year sentence for possession of a controlled dangerous substance, began his sentence in August 2008.
• Warren P. Diego, who is serving a 15-year sentence (10 years PTS) for lewd molestation, began his sentence in February 2009. -
Judge recuses herself from pharmacy case
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A state district judge has stepped aside from the first-degree murder trial of a pharmacist accused in the fatal shooting of an unconscious would-be robber.
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Transformations
