Mother faces charges from Grade 8 party: Provided a motel room, alcohol for daughter and friends.

Prom nights send most parents scurrying for corsages, dresses and hair appointments.

The Montgomery County woman's idea of post-dance magic was renting a motel room and stocking it with alcohol for her 14-year-old daughter and her schoolmates, authorities said yesterday.

Allerton, 40, of Horsham, now faces criminal charges for allegedly playing host to a drinking party last month at the Warrington Motor Lodge in Bucks County.

The overnight party followed an eighth-grade dance May 17 at Keith Valley Middle School in Horsham. The school is part of the Hatboro-Horsham School District, where Allerton works as a bus driver.

She and six youths allegedly drank three cases of beer and a case of Bacardi Silver malt beverage. A girl said Allerton also smoked marijuana with them, according to a police affidavit.

"Mrs. Allerton wanted a treat for these kids," said David Zellis, Bucks County's first assistant district attorney. "Now we have a treat for her."

Allerton, arrested Friday on charges of corrupting minors and furnishing alcohol to minors, was released on $75,000 bail. She did not return a call to her home seeking comment.

The students' parents had been told their children would be sleeping over at Allerton's house, Zellis said. "Little did they know that that was just a cover story for Mrs. Allerton's abhorrent behavior," he said.

One of the children's mothers apparently sniffed out the ruse late that night, had her daughter brought home, and then called police in the morning.

The girl's father said: "We just figured the lady works for the school district, and our daughters are friends. But my older daughter didn't care for her; she said she was almost too friendly."

Allerton's arrest happened three months after another Montgomery County woman, Megan Smith, was charged with hosting a teen drinking party at which a girl allegedly was raped.

Zellis said police could not substantiate allegations that Allerton took condoms and marijuana to the motel. She had rented the room several days before the dance, using the name "Joan Smith" and a fictitious address, police said.

The night of the dance, Allerton drove with her daughter; her son, 16; and another boy, 15, to a beer distributor on Easton Road, police said. She bought three cases of 7-ounce beer and a case of flavored malt beverage for a girl who she knew "did not like to drink," according to the affidavit.

Allerton dropped the boys off at the motel, where they iced down the drinks. When the dance was over, she returned with her daughter, another boy, and two girls, all 14, police said.

The mother of one of the girls learned of the plan and sent an older daughter to pick her up.

That woman notified police in the morning. Officers found all of the bottles empty inside the vacated room. Students later told police they had spent the night drinking, smoking pot and watching TV.

Allerton had worked for Hatboro-Horsham since 1995, most recently as a bus driver, Superintendent William Lessa said. He said the district had no record of trouble with her and called the arrest "disturbing." He declined to discuss possible disciplinary actions against her.

The district will not discipline the students involved, Lessa said, because its code of conduct rarely covers out-of-school behavior.

I've known people who were somewhat like this (certainly not as extreme as this loon). One thing that irks me is that they seem to think that 14-year-olds have always had this sort of experience, all through the centuries. So, the parent is simply helping them "do the natural thing" but perhaps in a "safer than normal" environment.

It's hogwash, of course. But some people think that teenagers have always slept around, always gotten secret abortions, always drank and used drugs, always stayed out all night, and always rebelled against their parents with a total lack of civility.

It's just not true. This is a (bad) 20th century phenomenon. Parents need to be parents. Children need to stop trying to be adults.

This is a (bad) 20th century phenomenon.

From what I have seen, this "phenomenon" can be pinned almost exclusively on the 60s Flower Power, Kumbaya generation. As adults, they have no sense - at all - of personal responsibility for anything. This "phenomenon" is also degenerative. These moral morons now have kids who are raising kids. The next crop not only has parents who believe their children can do no wrong to anyone, but the kids also have a cruel streak a mile long. My wife and I are older than most parents and are raising three children. I haven't met many other parants at all who make reasonable decisions about their young ones. Scary.

Summer's a risky time for teens....
....with pot but not with a hard drinking mother:

http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/news/press03/060303.html

Summer is the Riskiest Time of the Year for Teens and Marijuana

Drug Czar, YMCA of the USA and Others Urge Parents Not to Let Their Teen's Summer Go to Pot

(Washington, D.C.)—More teens first try marijuana in June and July than any other time of the year. To help parents combat this trend, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy's National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign and other leaders today launched a new "School's Out" summer education initiative to keep teens marijuana-free during the summer months.

"Summer may be a vacation for teens, but it presents new challenges for parents," said John P. Walters, Director of National Drug Control Policy. "Many parents don't know that new teen marijuana use spikes in the summer months. Marijuana is riskier than many parents think - in fact, more teens are in treatment for marijuana than for all other illicit drugs combined."

"When children are unsupervised, they are placed in greater danger. They are also lacking positive interaction with peers and role models, educational opportunities in a supportive environment, and stimulating activities to help them grow. Camp provides all these benefits and more!" said Peg Smith, Executive Director of the American Camping Association (ACA).

Research shows that parents are the most powerful influence on their teen when it comes to drugs. In fact, two-thirds of kids say that fear of upsetting their parents or of losing the respect of family and friends is one of the main reasons they don't smoke marijuana or use other drugs.

# # #

For more information on the ONDCP National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign visit www.mediacampaign.org

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A38771-2003Jun10?language=printer

Mom Charged in Partying With 8th-Graders

The Associated Press
Tuesday, June 10, 2003; 9:31 AM

DOYLESTOWN, Pa. - A school bus driver who rented a motel room, stocked it with beer, then drank with her eighth-grade daughter and classmates after a dance has been charged with corrupting minors, authorities said.

Jacqueline Allerton, 40, was arrested Friday and was also charged with furnishing alcohol to minors. She was released on $75,000 bail.

Allerton wanted the "kids to have a fun night," according to a police affidavit.

"Mrs. Allerton wanted a treat for these kids," said David Zellis, Bucks County's first assistant district attorney. "Now we have a treat for her."

Allerton and six youths, including her 14-year-old daughter, allegedly drank three cases of beer and a case of Bacardi Silver malt beverage after a May 17 dance at Keith Valley Middle School in Horsham, a suburb of Philadelphia, authorities said.

Allerton is a bus driver for the Hatboro-Horsham School District, which operates Keith Valley Middle School.

Allerton did not return a phone message seeking comment.

© 2003 The Associated Press

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