Request photo reprints. Mercer Island police officer Lance Davenport told a room of about 200 parents at a community forum last week. Then he asked those parents to raise their hands if they have a scanner and color printer at home. Dozens of hands shot up. While it may be true that kids can buy in the Valley, it's just as easy for them to make a fake I.D. using the scanner and printer in their own home and go to a store to buy alcohol, Davenport pointed out.
Kids also get booze from their parents' liquor cabinets, older siblings and friends.
It's really not hard. Islander Middle School students Leah Williams and Molly Petschl said a lack of supervision of kids and the availability of money make it easy for Island teens to get their hands on alcohol and drugs, even at school. Petschl said, simply by using her allowance. Some of the information seemed to surprise a number of parents, while to others it was old news. The point, said Davenport, was to dispel the myths and get the facts out.